A Single Wire
by PeachyParchment
Summary: Vivian buys herself a new video game; Majora's Mask, as a house warming gift of sorts. However, in a stroke of bad luck, she ends up with a cartridge haunted by the infamous BEN Drowned. Ghosts were the last thing she needed in her already busy life. (Contains other Creepypastas too)
1. Chapter 1

**One: An Interesting Find**

The old wooden planks groaned under my leather boots as if my weight was too much for them to take. The ample bay windows were adorned with tattered, filmy curtains which swayed in the breeze generated from me slamming the door. Dust lay over every inch of space, irritating my sinuses. This was a tiny excuse for an apartment. I'm sure nobody has inhabited it for at least several years, judging by the condition of the place. Yet, places like this never failed to draw me in with their antique and eerie charm.

The only piece of furniture in the room was an ebony piano which took up nearly a quarter of the room's space. I frowned at it, weighing up the pros and cons of hiring someone to move the thing. I quickly decided that it wasn't worth it; too much time and effort. I made my way towards it, brushing my bony fingers over the well-used keys. I pressed them in the pattern of a peaceful tune, the sounds echoing through the cold silence in the room.

After further exploring, a musty bedroom was found in an alcove on the left, beside a small, damp and dingy bathroom. The kitchen stood at the very back of the room, looking just as moldy and disgusting as the bathroom. I would definitely have my work cut out for me if I was aiming to make this place hygienic – that sucks, a lot. But, in all honesty, this place should turn out to be the perfect place for me to spend the next few years (if that, I moved often).

I placed my hands on my hips and let out an exhausted sigh. Well, at least this takes the whole 'moving' thing off my list because that was a pain in the ass. At least now I could devote more time to my studies and my various jobs. Luckily, work had been slow lately but, like always, something was sure to mess that all up sooner rather than later.

I reached into the pocket of my tight denim jeans and pulled out my cracked iPhone, accessing the number of the movers I had hired. After a short, curt conversation with the brutes, they agreed that they would have everything ready and dropped off by this afternoon. I locked the phone before shoving it back into my pocket. Luckily, I had brought something to entertain myself with while I waited – not study of course; I was tired after my move.

I traipsed through the thick dust, causing clouds to the annoying particles to take to the air. I stopped at the door, where three boxes were waiting to be opened, the ones I actually took the effort to lug here myself in my bashed up red KIA Rio (it got me out a hefty number of scrapes with Death). Tearing one of the boxes open savagely, I pulled out my trusty, yellow Gameboy. Feeling like a retro gamers, I switched it on, the placid notes of Pokemon Gold version floating gaudily through the still air. I smiled, relaxing myself as I slumped to the floor in the middle of the room with a puff of dust.

The atmosphere was a unique one at that, peaceful at a glance, but eerie if one stuck around for too long; just the way I like it.

The sofa flexed involuntarily as I flung myself into it, burying my face into the auburn cushions and screaming into its soft mass in anger. The movers had made the sorry mistake of loosening their grip on my monitor, hence causing it to fall and set up a chain of annoying events.

The heavy monitor fell onto the smaller man's foot which made him topple over and swear at his quickly brushing foot. The other man was forced to drop the rest of my beloved computer on the wooden floor, making its fragile components scatter far and wide. But, I could have been more upset. The old girl needed replacing anyway and taking advantage of a damage claim I would be filling as soon as possible.

With a heavy sigh, I rolled off the couch and onto the floor with a thump, prompting me to swear and push myself into a sitting position, massaging my aching side. I gave the room a once over, hurriedly checking to see if everything was in its place. I didn't have much furniture in the first place but in this confined space it was all I could fit anyway.

After that incident earlier, there wasn't anything I was particularly in the mood for doing so I decided I'd head out for a walk to calm myself down. The thought of that made the lazy slob inside of me groan in annoyance but since there wasn't really anything else I wanted to do I pulled myself to my feet and left the safety of my apartment.

I slid into the scuffed leather seats of my car, slamming the door a little too hard. I took in the awful smell of stale burritos, a meal that I had eaten on the way over and only partially polished off. I grimaced and rolled down the windows, letting the cool breeze wash into the cramped interior and hopefully rid it of some of the smell for the time being. Kicking the rust bucket into gear, I decided that finding an electronics store would be good idea. Some new games and a spanking new lap top would definitely lighten my mood, even if I didn't have any time to play the games.

The vivid lights of the electronics store were a beacon for tired eyes since I had been searching for the place for hours. I have lived in Toronto all my life so I had never expected the streets to look so unfamiliar; I guess moving to the other side of the city would do that to you. I locked the car behind me, skipping towards the electronic glass doors of the place. The glass doors slid open instantly upon sensing my presence, letting me into the deserted store. I quickly discovered that the only person here besides me was a geeky-looking clerk. Pleased that there was no one around to bother me, I quickly set to work finding a cheap lap top that would suffice until I was sent a new monitor and hard-drive.

After searching for some time over the various options available, I selected a clunky machine with Windows 7 pre-set for it, figuring that with my current wages, it would have to do. As always, I tried my best to seek out a decent game for me to waste my time with but, to my displeasure, everything on offer I had either played or wasn't interested in for the time being. With a scowl, I paced back to the counter to pay for the lap top.

The clerk didn't notice me straight away; he was too busy reading a comic book I didn't recognize. Resisting the urge to see what it was, I was on the verge of speaking up and drawing his attention to me when my eyes snapped to a particular cardboard box stacked on a shelf behind his head. The words 'Nintendo 64 cartridges' were written on the face of the box in fading permanent marker. Poking out of the open box was a number of grey cartridges, the names of most of them being written in black marker. However, one cartridge, the one with the word 'Majora' etched onto it was the one that caught my eye the most.

Disbelief trembled through my body, my eyes locked on that one word. Vibrant recollections flashed through my mind as I remembered that game and the memories and nostalgia that came with it. I had played that game through with my friends time and time again, since one of them was just so obsessed with the game my mother would often wonder if he had some kind of mental disorder.

But it wasn't only the nostalgia that convinced me at that very moment to purchase the card but the fact that it looked too similar to the one I used to own for it to be just a coincidence. I needed it, as a little tribute almost, to that boy from my past. I smiled softly, wondering why the hell I was being so sentimental all of a sudden; since when did I do things in the memory of others. I'll play it for the nostalgia.

Disbelief was soon washed away by ecstatic excitement as I called out to the clerk, prompting him to startle and look up at me. I told him simply that I wanted the lap top and the cartridge. He nodded awkwardly, staring at me for a few moments before taking my money for the machine. Just as I was about to pay for the game, he shook his head, avoiding my eyes as he spoke. Just what is with people and my eyes?

"It's kind of faulty, that thing," he warned me as he reached up and plucked the thing from the box, disheveling the other cartridges in the process. "I was planning on throwing it out along with the rest of those things so if you really want it, you can have it for free." I eagerly accepted his offer without any doubts in my mind, tucking my wallet back into my pocket.

If the game really was faulty than the only difference it would make to me is how interesting it is. The more glitches there are, the funnier it is in my opinion. I picked up my laptop and curtly bid the clerk farewell as I left the store, grinning like a madman.

Well, there go all my other plans for the evening. Playing this game suddenly became my greatest priority. Setting up the lap top, researching and studying can all wait; I'm going to order Chinese food and play the heck out of Majora's Mask. In my eyes, it was the perfect evening – there was little I could think of that would make the night better.

As I exited the store, I noticed a man sitting on a bench just outside the windows. He must have heard me approaching, his head tilting towards me slightly. His eyes glared at me with a bleak, weary expression though I could catch hints of relief within their stony depths. He stared at me for a time, prompting me to give him a look and turn away from him. I didn't like being stared at for too long, it made me uncomfortable. Just as I was beginning to head towards my trusty vehicle, I heard a voice.

"Goodbye, Ben," it breathed in a monotone.

I whipped back around to the man, having sworn that he was the one who had spoken. He was now staring out at the road, looking at something beyond the speeding cars and trucks. He was completely still now; even his chest didn't seem to be stirring. Confusion dashed across my features for a moment as I turned back towards my car, deciding to leave the man in peace.

I slumped into the driver's seat of my car once more, turning the old cartridge over and over in my hands, searching for any signs of damage. It looked scratched up and a little scorched for reason beyond my knowledge and the marker had been chipped off in places, fading. I wondered just what this cartridge has gone through, to look like that. I found that there was a name written on the back of it 'Ben.' My hands began to shake as I realized that this was indeed, the very cartridge I was familiar with from my childhood.

Sighing heavily, I pinched the bridge of my nose as I dumped the cartridge in the cup holder, holding back an assault of faded memories. I didn't want to think about all that right now – I was definitely not in the mood for that and in all honesty, I hadn't been for nine years straight. Instead, I forced myself to remember all the levels in the game instead, the characters. These thoughts occupied my mind as I drove back to my apartment.

I snuggled deep into the fluffy cushions of my sofa, bundled up in a massive furry blanket. A box of half-eaten Chinese noodles sat in my lap, my hands clasped around the controller of my Nintendo 64. Nostalgia fizzed through me as I played through the familiar opening scenes of the game. As it was a second hand game, Ben's file still proudly held its position on the screen. I bit my lip as I noticed that he was so close to completing it.

I ignored the file and created my own, not wanting to mess with it.

The game ran very smoothly despite its age; it only had a few bugs and glitches. But that just made the game more interesting, of course. One thing I noticed was that it took a long time to load, so long in fact that I began to think that it just wasn't going to start up. I couldn't quite think of why but staring at that black screen for that long evoked a strange sort of tension within me, as if part of me was wondering if something was about to jump out at me.

Another glitch I found was that the NPCs would never call me by my profile name 'Link' it would always be Ben. The longer I played however, the more often I was see his name. I began to notice that even the NPCs were now called Ben. I found this strange but intriguing nonetheless; prompting me to laugh at the sheer number of times the name would pop up. Another thing I found was that the different areas would take longer to load so I would be forced to wander around a darkened, tile-less zone for some time. There were other tiles and color pallets missing too, or switched with other kinds of tiles – particularly water tiles.

Eventually, I had played all the way up to and through the Woodfall Temple, assuring that I had collected any hidden goodies along the way. Upon checking the time on my phone, I found with a start that it was one o'clock in the morning, meaning that if I didn't get to sleep now, I wouldn't be able to keep myself awake tomorrow. With a groan, I gave Link's avatar a longing look before I saved my progress at an owl statue and switched of the Nintendo 64. To my surprise, the machine zapped me in the process, something that it hadn't done before. I shrugged it off however, since the thing was almost as old as I was.

Being too lazy to pull myself off the couch and haul myself to bed, I simply pushed the empty noodle carton from earlier onto the floor as I lay down. Smiling to myself, I found that I was much more tired than I perceived myself as being moments ago. Yawning, I soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

I heard a soft voice whisper to me moments before sleep suffocated me and whisked me away. I was too weary to do anything about it, and forgot about them moments after hearing them.

" _It's good to see you again."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Two: Activity**

I let out a raspy sigh as I set to work unwrapping the paper around the cheese, bacon and salad roll I just bought. As usual, I had earned myself a headache from over focusing on lectures, thus making it harder for me to eat due to nausea. But I knew I was hungry so I had no choice but to voice myself to swallow the chunks of tasty morsels. Now that I was on a break between my now and my next lecture, I had time to let my mind wander a little for a short period of time.

My mind instantly dredged up thoughts of Majora's Mask but before I could really think about any aspect of it in particular, I remembered that I should probably be taking up another job right now. There were always superstitious individuals in the world, ones that would need constant reassuring over things that weren't of any real concern. It was my job to reassure those people and deal with any incidences that were actually real. I didn't take jobs very often and business was often slow anyway so I was lucky if I got a job once a month. But lately, the frequency of the calls I was receiving was increasing which would have concerned me if I didn't know what I was doing.

Just recently, in fact, I had made some protective charms for some girl in her mid-teens who was concerned that her demon summoning ritual had actually worked. Luckily for her, it was a false one she had learnt about on a shady site so no demons would be coming after her any time soon. I told her this and sent her some charms for reassurance. Honestly, kids shouldn't be messing around with things like that – demons are difficult for the inexperienced to deal with.

I sensed a sudden presence beside me, prompting me to snap my head to the side, my white hair fluttering around me. Upon brushing the irritating strands of hair back, I took in the appearance of a boy about my age. He had tousled, chocolate hair that hung partially over his lifeless, pale green eyes. I got the feeling that he had been sitting there for some time without my knowing. I chuckled, returning to slowly eating my sandwich.

"Quiet as usual, Oliver," I said to the boy lowly, not wanting to startle him by speaking too loudly. He turned slightly towards me, his face void of any sort of emotion as per usual. I often tell him he needs to brighten up but he stubbornly reminds me that he's perfectly happy and that I need to stop trying to change his mood. He reached into the breast pocket of his puffy vest, drawing out a notebook. He tossed it to me and I caught it single handily.

My eyes glimpsed over the words written. As always, he had found me a job. I keep telling him that I have a separate phone number specifically for people to call me about that kind of thing but, since business was always slow, he would go out of his way to find someone in need. I honestly don't know how he does it and frankly, I don't want to know.

"So I'm to exorcise some Shadows. No problem, business as usual. They're probably just paranoid anyway, the shadows I mean," I stated. "Shadows always get pissed when their owner dies without them." Long explanation short, if someone dies in the dark or in any other place where their shadow is not visible, it does not go along with them into the afterlife. As a fault of this, they wander the world searching for their owner and generally scaring the balls off people. Some turn malevolent however, so they require exorcising before that can happen.

This kind of job requires little time to complete so I'll probably head out to do that after my last lecture of the day.  
And pay was decent too; fifty bucks can feed me for a week. My main problem was, the more time I spent away from home, the less time I would get to study which meant that I would have even less time to play video games which was something I needed to do in order to survive.

Anyway, time to change topics to something much more interesting – Majora's Mask. "Hey," I began, catching Oliver's attention and drawing him away from his constant staring at the clouds. "I came across our old Majora's Mask cartridge the other day." Surprise dashed across Oliver's chubby features for a moment. "Well, the one we stole of Ben every now and then anyway," I added pointlessly with a giggle.

"How?" he asked simply in a very slight whisper that I only just caught. He glared right into my eyes, something he generally avoided doing which meant that he was dead serious right now, despite not being able to show it in his expression. I looked away from him, staring down at the grass as I tried my best to come up with some kind of explanation for him. Well, I didn't know myself to be honest. I just found the thing in an electronics store.

"I don't know. The last time I saw it was the last time I saw Ben," I mused thoughtfully. "That was nine years ago." Oliver looked away from me, his gaze slowly turning back towards the sky above. He sat there for a few moments, tracking the movement of the wisps of clouds.

"Damaged?" he asked simply.

"Nope, roughed up and full of glitches but that just made the game better. But obviously, it's been through some shit," I explained. I noticed that there was traces of pain in his eyes now, most likely caused by my rising tone and from the memories of an old acquaintance of ours. Anyway, whatever it was, he'd get over it like he always does.

"Leave it alone," he uttered, much to my surprise. "We don't need it." His words angered me a little – I found it and as such, I was going to play the heck out of it for old times' sake. I do indeed need it in order to relive some of my childhood and remind myself of an old friend. To this day, I don't think he really considered me to be his friend but back then, I sure did.

"No, I'm going to play it. It's caught my interest already," I replied stubbornly. Oliver let out a hoarse sigh before returning to his silence. I stared at him for a few moments, glaring, before I pulled myself to my feet. I felt too ill and pissed off now to continue eating so I dumped my half-eaten sandwich in the trash can and turned my back on Oliver. It was time for the final lecture of the day where generally, no bullshit goes on. That was one of the main reasons why I liked University.

"Be careful, Vivian," I heard him mutter as I walked away at a brisk pace.

"Are you sure they're gone?" questioned a frail old man as I began to pack away all my equipment into the trunk of my car. I hated it when they would question me on my work; if I tell you the spirit, demon or monster is gone then it his gone with the wind. My eyes never lie and neither do my methods. Call it arrogant or overly self-confident but if I didn't trust in my abilities, I simply wouldn't be able to cope with this kind of job.

"If they weren't, I would still be sitting in that pentagram lighting candles and muttering," I replied blithely as he handed me a wad of bills. I flicked through them, assuring he wasn't ripping me off before I shoved them back into my pocket. He exhaled heavily in relief, drawing his shawl closer as a cool breeze tugged at our clothes. He thanked me, bowing his balding head at me before he scurried back into the apartment block as quickly as a fleeing crab.

I paid no mind to him as I began to think about what I had just witnessed. There were many more of those Shadows than I had expected, a scene I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing for quite some time now. That kind of phenomena was usually brought on by the present of powerful ghost since shadows and ghosts are both classed as spirits with shadows being weaker than ghosts for obvious reasons. Now, I hadn't heard any complaints about larger ghost yet, but I have noticed a sudden up-rise in the amount of shadows. They appear generally in semi dark place, places that are light enough to cast shadows but dim enough to keep attention away from them.

The reason they grouped around places where strong ghosts are is because they give of a sort of signal to them, one that comforts them in some way and makes them feel wanted. Some ghosts even enlist the help of these shadows, which is why many of them become malevolent. However, it is mostly demons who work spirits that way.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to communicate with some ghosts soon and see what's going on. I grimaced at the thought; they were tricky to reason with since they were either too messed up by their regrets, too far away from the ethereal plane or simply too big of an asshole to answer my inquiries. Well, that and the risk of possession. Therefore, I tended to avoid speaking with them.

But, it would avoid a bunch of bullshit on the long term. Anyway, enough of exorcising for tonight, I have things to study and research along with a very interesting game to play. Speaking of that game, despite knowing what was coming next, I couldn't help but wish for more, yearn for something unexpected to happen. It had surprised me so far so maybe, just maybe, my wish could be fulfilled for once.

Lucky for me, the traffic had been favorable and I arrived home just after night fall. I threw my backpack on the floor with a slump, the sound quickly muffled by the cluttered status of the room. Massaging my shoulder, I yawned as I stuck a protection seal onto my door. I didn't want to risk having to deal with more of those shadow things right now, especially in my own home. I have been burnt by those things and it hurts like hell and takes a great deal of work to shake off.

I lay on my belly on my sofa, my arms hanging off the edge, my legs crossed over my backside. The room was entirely dark, save for the bright, flickering screen of my television. Again, I had received an electric shock whilst switching on my Nintendo 64. Now that was concerning; I wasn't sure if I would be able to replace that thing. Anyway, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen as I explored the slightly altered version of one of my favorite games as a child.

As usual, the tiles and color pallets were off and everyone was still known as Ben but apart from that, nothing was out of the ordinary. This time, I worked all the way up and through Snowhead Temple. It was surprisingly difficult, even for a gamer of my experienced. It was most likely due to the sudden glitches in the tiles, resulting in spaces where I would just fall continuously which forced me to reset the game. This frustrated me to no end but I did eventually complete it.

I then realized that I had missed one of the fairies somewhere, prompting me to almost throw the controller in a fit of rage. Being the kind of gamer I was, I hissed through my teeth and decided to perform the infamous 4th day glitch. When I get to that damn fairy I swear I'll strangle her first. I had to Google how to glitch it again, since a busy nine years would easily make anyone forget trivial things. I guffawed loudly once I managed to do it but my cheers soon died down once I turned my attention back to the screen.

I found that Link was now standing before Skull Kid, in the Majora boss fight room towards the end of the game. Skull Kid was hovering about Link, silently, simply staring at him. No, he wasn't staring at Link; he was staring straight through the screen – at me. Grinning at the surprise, I attempted to move around and explore the arena, Skull Kid following Link's avatar yet keeping his eyes on me no matter where I moved. He never appeared here so naturally, I was perplexed.

I shrugged, figuring I might as well fight. However, it appeared that Link was simply unwilling to comply with my rapid movement of the controller. He appeared to be standing stock still now, as if the sight of Skull Kid caused him to stand stock still in fright. I sighed in frustration, figuring that I'd just have to reset the game again if it wasn't going to work with me here.

Suddenly, the tiles and every inch of color in the room began to fade to lighter and lighter shades, to the point where everything in the room was nearly white in color. I knitted my brows together once some text popped up on the screen. "You're not sure why, but you apparently had a reservation…" I read out loud. I had read that text somewhere before and I got the feeling that I hadn't just heard it within the confines of the game. Moments after the text disappeared, more words appeared, this time a question. "Go to the lair of the temple's boss?" I read. There was the option to choose 'yes' or 'no'.

I was upset that I was skipping crucial parts of the game in order to satisfy whatever requirements this glitch of a game needed but, since it clearly had some sort of message it was trying to convey to me, I decided to simply go with yes and not bother with the negative. The words 'Dawn of a New Day' appeared as usual, but with a subtext of 'WELCOME' at the bottom. Curious, I grinned in anticipation as the game loaded the next scene.

My lips parted slightly, the smile disappearing from my face as I took in the new world I had been presented with.

 _Hey, what if I could change the game? Make it into anything I wanted it to be…_

 _That wouldn't be right; you got to play it how it is._

 _That's boring, isn't it? If I knew how to, I'd change it for sure._

 _What would you do then?_

"I'd make it into my personal play room," I muttered out loud, both his words and my words echoing in my mind as I remembered a conversation that had been long since buried by piles of other junk. I let my eyes take it what I was seeing before me, surprised that I had found such a memory in correlation with the view before me.

Link was standing in a twilight-zone version of Clock Town with nary an inhabitant to be seen. After a moment of paralyzing surprise, I decided to get moving and explore this twisted place. So many textures were missing and mixed up with others; it looked like a gruesome patchwork, in fact. Most of these tiles were water tiles that Link would simply refuse to walk onto. Therefore, I had to weave a beeline around these tiles. I also noticed that the music was eerily peaceful here, familiar. Upon stopping and listening to it carefully, I realized that it was the Song of Healing in reverse with the occasional twisted laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman.

An air of depression seemed to hang over the town as I explored, soon finding that there was no way out of the place – even playing Link's Ocarina failed in teleporting me away from here. I tried to enter the various buildings in Clock Town, but I soon found that none of the villagers, whose names had returned to normal, were willing to let me in. All they would say to me is "You've been met with a terrible fate, haven't you," before refusing to speak to me again. I had this nagging suspicion that the game was not only trying to tell me a story, but it was trying to scare me as well. But, considering my upbringing, this only inquired a sense of amusement and curiosity within me.

I scoured the town for any evidence of what I was meant to do next. Before long, I found myself standing before the laundry pool, wondering if there was anything I had missed. I sat in my own thoughts for some time, trying desperately to figure out just what the game was trying to tell me. I had a hunch, a hunch that I had gained the moment things started to seem amiss but I refused to believe in it. Hell, I still didn't trust it, but it wasn't like it was wrong though – it was a very likely possibility.

Once I returned my attention to the screen, I saw that Link was no longer where I had left him standing; he was flailing around in the water. Shocked, I spammed the buttons in an attempt to get him out of there before he ended himself and thus ending my investigation of Clock Town. Finally, I did manage to get him out, just before he drowned. Immediately after doing so, I heard Skull Kid's scream blast through the speakers as, the screen fading to black momentarily. Once it zoned in again, I saw that the Link Statue that appears when the song Elegy of Emptiness is played.

I actually was quite fond of that statue in my childhood, having found it rather cute. But right now, I it only vexed me as I moved away from it. Moments later it spawned directly behind Link, following him as I guided him through the contorted spaces of Clock Town. Not being too bothered by its presence, I decided to simply continue trying to get into the houses and search for any more information. All the while, the statue haunted me, not that I was really paying attention to it.

This seemed to anger it, since it began to spawn more frequently, sometimes right in front of me and restricting my walking space. Eventually, the game dumped me out, transitioning into a black screen with a text box telling me that it was the dawn of another new day. This time, there was no subtext. I was pissed off by this but I let it whisk me away since I had no choice in the matter.

Now, Link was standing atop Clock Tower, facing off against Skull Kid. He was silent once more and the moon loomed menacingly overhead, watching the scene below with some kind of sick joy. As to be expected, I instantly tried to fend him off with some arrows, not sure what else to do. However, to my shock, Skull Kid giggled, "That won't do you any good." Link was picked up off the ground, igniting into flames in the process, killing him instantly. My eyes widened at this, having not have expected it at all.

The screen faded back in, allowing me to attempt to attack Skull Kid a few more times, each try ending in the same animation. I gave up on the third try and apparently, so did the game. By this time, the game simply froze, or at least, I thought it did since nothing was moving. That was until Link fell to the ground, lying sprawled out with his head tilted towards the camera. A few moments later, that text appeared again, the same phrase everyone in Clock Town had used.

"You've been met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" It then kicked me out to the title screen where the profiles appear to have been changed. Ben's profile was still there, but mine was non-existent, replaced instead with 'YOUR TURN'. I checked the time, seeing that it was only midnight. I bit my lip, remembering that if I didn't study for my upcoming exam, I wouldn't be able to pass my course. I figured that I'd just check out the other file and see how things went.

It didn't take me long, the file lead me to the exact same scene I had escaped mere moments ago. Discouraged and frustrated, I flicked the television and Nintendo 64 off, zapping myself on both machines in the process. I dumped my controller on the floor, sucking my singed finger gingerly.

I sat in the dark, my mind blank as I tried in vain to process what I had just seen. Frankly, I was tired, and it wasn't just from playing for hours – it was from trying to understand. I was beginning to think that this was some kind of sick joke, a mockery of the death of a kid who had nothing to do with anything really. I relaxed into the sofa, realizing that I had been sitting bolt upright with all my muscles tensed that entire time.

Whoever had made this was going to need sunblock for where they're going. I had a dark sense of humor, sure, but mocking the dead was just asking for trouble. I suddenly felt the need to destroy that thing, be rid of it before it could cause any more trouble. But, I felt like that would be pointless. I now realized where all that physical damage to the card came from.

Okay, screw my study. If I needed to, I could just do through University again. I scanned my brain for any information regarding that card, including the very last time I saw it, my brain stubbornly reminding me that it was the very last day I saw Ben before his death. I always believed it had drowned with him in that lake which was a logical explanation to why I hadn't come into contact with it since recently.

I growled in frustration at the realization that my memories could not provide any further information on the topic. All I knew about Ben's death was that he drowned; nothing more. I don't know if he was murdered, or if it was suicide or an accident. The newspapers always made it out to be a mysterious death that had little explanation to it. I began to think that he was murdered and that the people who did him in took his game and hacked it to tell his story.

But that was pointless and naive of me to believe. Perhaps Ben himself was doing this – a haunting maybe. That seemed much more likely to me but if it was haunted, it would be likely that I would have started experiencing other evidence of being haunted. I glanced towards the seal on my door, questioning whether I should take it off and see if anything happens. I then remembered why I put it there and changed my mind.

I needed more evidence, both in the game and in reality.

But for now, I decided to abandon my investigation and get some study done before bed so I at least felt as though I had made some progress. I needed to pass my course in order to get the job I wanted; the cushy, well-paying job I had selected to pursue. Oliver probably had another job for me tomorrow too that I would need to at least be half awake for. Speaking of Oliver, I should bring him over and play the game with him; his gut feelings were almost always right.

Being too lazy and frustrated and worn out to move, I decided, again, to fall asleep on the couch.

" _Delve deeper."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Three: Delving Deeper**

Sipping from my steaming mug of coffee, I shuffled through my flash cards I had prepared for the test. The campus cafe was a sort of safe zone for me, a place that shielded me from the rest of the world. Very few people visited here, since they were much too busy studying in the green spaces or fooling about. I sat at my regular table at the very back corner of the cafe, Oliver sitting opposite to me as per normal. He sipped at his tea, staring blankly at some notes he had written during his last lecture.

"So, Oliver," I began. "Have any new jobs for me?" He looked up at me, hints of conflict in his eyes. He answered reluctantly, as if he was fearful of my answer.

"Another person is calling about spirit related issues," he began in a drawl. He hated speaking, he'd much rather write things down but since he knew that pissed me off, he did his best to answer in as few words as possible. He pushed his notebook towards me which outlined the specifics of the client's problem. I pouted at this new revelation; this was definitely not normal. I thanked myself for applying that seal to my door otherwise I'd probably start having my own issues. Something was definitely amiss and I wasn't overly keen to find out what.

Whatever, maybe it's just a coincidence. My rule was that if something occurred three times consecutively, than there is no way it's a coincidence. If this happens again tomorrow, then I'll do something. If not then I'd be happy to wait until something serious happens to draw my attention.

I groaned loudly, resting my forehead on the wooden table. "Fine, another afternoon spent exorcising," I muttered belligerently. "What else is new?" Usually, Oliver fell silent after that question, meaning that there was nothing else for him to reveal to me. But this time, he spoke up, surprising me. He shuffled in his seat, as if he were uncomfortable. Yet his face expressed no such emotion as he spoke to me clearly.

"I want to see the game," he stated, catching me off guard. I always had to invite him over, never the other way around. He didn't want to intrude on my privacy which I understood, since he knew all too well what the consequences of breaking my personal space bubble was. I didn't like being touched and honestly, I didn't know anyone who did. Anyway, I was happy to have Oliver over tonight, especially since I wanted his take on the game too.

"Sure," I breathed, taking a sip from my coffee. Oliver nodded and returned to his study moments later, like nothing was more important. I regarded him with a half-lidded gaze, realizing with a yawn just how tired I was. "Oh, but the place is a sty so don't poke around too much," I added as an afterthought. I really should clean that up and do some grocery shopping; I couldn't live off fast food and bottled water now could I?

I tried to follow suit and focus on my own notes when I found that I couldn't, my gaze drifting towards the notebook I used for writing down tidbits of mythos, legends and Creepypasta that I found interesting. Yes, I read Creepypasta. A lot of it was bullshit but some did actually recount some over exaggerated but legitimate experiences.

I shoved my work aside and brought that before me instead, deciding to take down all the notes and theories I had gathered in my mind about the game. Flipping through the pages, I noticed some were particularly messy with some sections missing entirely. I flipped over a stapled section of papers, not dwelling too long on what was hidden in there. I tapped my pen on the page, wracking my brains for something decent.

I took down a few more notes for miscellaneous things before I snapped the book shut and internally screamed at myself to get on with my study while I still could. It would probably be better to analysis the game in retrospect. Glancing over at the calendar that hung on the space of wall beside the table, I noticed what the date was; November 15. Fifteen days left.

Grimacing, I realized I would be cutting it pretty close with deadlines if I continued putting off my 'mission' any longer. My life was at stake, sure, but that didn't stop me from doing other things and being lazy in general. I knew I was going to start getting those damn calls soon if I didn't assure them that I was well on my way on completing their quest – which I wasn't.

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me in the next ten days; I've got a deadline to meet, a game to crack and a sudden rise in the number of shadows to investigate. Great, just great. Why can't the world just let me sit on my ass and waste my life away playing video games? I held my head and my hands and moped about all the work I had to do.

The exorcism was a little more difficult this time. Some poor couple's bedroom was overrun with the things; I couldn't even see through all the shadows. There were also a few stray ones scattered over the house, meaning that I had to do a full-house exorcism which took me a grueling hour of work. I just hoped that this was a coincidence and not a warning to an incident sometime in the future.

Oliver was waiting for me the entire time in the car, patient as always. I would have felt bad for keeping him waiting if I cared more. The car trip to my apartment was spent in silence, the both of us simply staring out the window and keeping to our own thoughts.

My eyes focused on the road ahead, my mind buzzing with so many thoughts that they became interwoven with one another, indistinguishable. I watched through lazy eyes as the blurred shapes of other cars whizzed by, the forms of the crowds of people on the streets were barely visible out of the corner of my eyes. I vaguely noticed how bundled up they were, and I remembered that it was nearing winter.

Lamely, I spotted a few shadows clinging under the overhangs of shops and cafes, unnoticed by any who happened to pass. If they tried hard enough, they could cloak themselves from prying eyes, projecting themselves into their minds as 'just a figment of their imagination.' That trick didn't work on me, not with these oversensitive eyes of mine. They were oversensitive in a supernatural sense – the monsters, demons and ghosts that hid away from the majority could be seen through my eyes. It was a curse when I was younger but now, it was more of a gift that kept me safe (and earned me money).

At some point, I realized that I had arrived out the front of my apartment. I don't know how long I had been sitting there for so I coughed awkwardly and proceeded in getting out of the car. Oliver followed a few moments later. He stared up at the towering, brown brick apartment expressionlessly. I imagined that he approved since he would probably say so if he didn't. Promptly, we headed inside and traveled up to the 8th floor, unit 3 where my apartment proudly stood.

I made sure I locked the door behind me before I dumped my backpack on the floor, placing my hands on my lips as I watched Oliver investigate my new crib. He took note of the seal I had stuck on the door before he traipsed through the dusty floors and into the kitchen. I noticed him grimace at this before he headed into my bathroom and bedroom. I could tell by the faintly disgusted look in his eyes that he wasn't going to let me show him the game until my apartment was to his liking.

"Oh, come on, Oliver," I groaned, sitting down on the couch with a slump. "The game is more important. It's like someone hacked into it for a sick joke or something, you have to see." Well, that was one of my theories – I didn't want to discuss my other theory with him just yet. He shook his head and picked up the broom I had discarded by the windowsill. He tossed me it and I awkwardly caught it, pouting all the while.

"Fine, but you're doing most of it," I added for arguments sake. Oliver rolled his eyes and immediately walked into the bathroom, deciding to start there first. With a loud, irritated groan, I got to my feet and began sweeping up all the dust and crap, unable to get my mind of that game.

In fact, I was looking forward to what it had to show me.

Oliver sat beside me, jotting down random notes and observations of his as I pondered over what to do next. I barely noticed him there as I wondered whether I should attempt surpassing Skull Kid again in the YOUR TURN save file or if I should play around with BEN's file. Honestly, I didn't want to touch it since it was Ben's and I know that he hates it when people touch his games without permission. I then reminded myself that I've been messing with his game this whole time and that it was too late for such reservations.

"What do you think Oliver?" I asked him, considering he was right about things the majority of the time.  
"What choice do you have?" I replied with a yawn, clinging onto my leg. His words convinced me into what I was about to do next. I was about to enter the file when I noticed that a few things were amiss. The stats seemed to be changed minutely – the Stone Tower Temple had been completed, much to my astonishment.

If I remember correctly, Ben never actually made it all the way through the temple the final time he played it. I pouted in both curiosity and suspicion. I was beginning to think that this wasn't just some sick joke laid by some hacker – it was too intricate and detailed for things to be that way. If it was hacked, it would have to have been done by someone who knew Ben very well.

Steeling my gaze, I entered BEN's file. Link was standing before an owl statue outside of Stone Tower Temple. However, the zone wasn't labelled as such, instead it read as 'St o n e.' I read it immediately as Stone but, upon looking at it again, I saw that it could also be interpreted as St One. But, since there is no such thing, I went with the former.

As soon as I tried to move Link, a text box popped up that was filled with unreadable gibberish. Upon squinting at it for some time, I managed to make out the words 'DROWN' and 'GONE'. Those didn't need much analysis; Ben drowned – gone forever from the existential plane. I then noticed the state Link's body was in. I grimaced in disgust at the sight of his disfigured limbs and crooked neck. His eyes looked lifeless, much like Oliver's so that didn't concern me much. His body spasmed as I attempted to move him; he wouldn't go forward – only backward.

Oliver pointed out that there was a new C button item, some kind of letter. Curious, I opened it, coming across line upon line of codes and scrabbled letters. The lines went off the borders of the paper and beyond the screen. Upon staring at it for some time, I realized that with work, I could probably decode this. Oliver snapped a picture of it for future reference.

The music, no noise, was demonic in nature – I would know, I've literally tangoed with them before. Since I had heard those kinds of sounds before, I didn't pay too much notice to them. They seemed waterlogged, I noted, like it was being played underwater. I could hear the Happy Mask Salesman's laugh in there somewhere, spliced with Skull Kid's.

Before Oliver and I could comprehend what was going on, the Statue of Elegy spawned right in front of Link, prompting the screen to go dark moments later. Dawn of a new day popped up on the screen, this time with the subtext of 'EYES ON YOU.' After seeing that, a random shudder trailed down my spine which was odd since I wasn't cold or frightened in the slightest. If anything I was confused and curious.

Link was a Deku scrub again, standing in Clocktown. It was akin to the scene that played when time was reversed, down to Tatle's remark of how everything had started over. However, towards the end of her statement, her words became broken; the laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman interrupted her. The camera was focused at an odd angle, from some corner a distance away from Link. All the normal residents of Clocktown had returned to their normal routines, as if completely unaware of the bullshit that had happened recently.

Link's avatar, again, would only allow me to travel backwards so I was forced into entering the Clock Tower. Instantaneously, I was met with the Happy Mask Salesman grinning down at Link's helpless form. He said, with a giggle 'you've been met with a terrible fate, haven't you?' I've heard that plenty of times throughout the game, so often that it was becoming taboo. I got the feeling that I was hearing it throughout my daily life as well, but I couldn't quite pin point when or where.

Promptly after his statement, the screen faded to white. When if faded in again, Link was human again, standing in Termina Field. I saw that there were no enemies spawning so, at first glance, the place appeared rather peaceful. Before I got the chance to do any more exploring, a knock at the door disrupted me. I stared at the door in confusion as I paused the game, wondering who the hell would come calling to my home – as far as I know; only Oliver knows where I live now.

Oliver shrugged as he fixated his gaze on the door, raising his guard. I slid to my feet reluctantly, pissed off that someone had the gall to interrupt me in my investigation. I dragged my feet as I walked to the door, answering it cautiously – it could be anyone at this stage.

I relaxed upon seeing that it was just some freckled delivery boy in his late teens. He greeted me, holding out piece of paper for me to sign along with a pen. I glared at him confusedly, my eyes drifting towards the package at his feet. I didn't order anything, hell, I haven't even set up my new laptop yet and ordering stuff from my phone was just annoying.

"I didn't buy anything," I said sternly. I felt a presence behind me, seeing that Oliver had crept up behind me, staring at the delivery man from behind my taller figure. He drew his eyes down to the box at his feet and kept his eyes there. I was about to call him up on him interrupting me while I was so busy but he spoke first, looking flustered. He took the clipboard out of my hands.

"I'm sure this is yours!" he argued, checking things on his clipboard. "You're Vivian Cosgrove, right? You live in this apartment, I'm sure I'm not wrong." I yanked the clipboard back from his hands, my eyes scrutinizing over my personal details. My name and address was perfectly correct, something that seriously ticked me off. I glanced warily at the package before giving up and signing the dotted line before swiftly picking up the surprisingly light box.

I said nothing as the kid said his goodbyes before I promptly slammed and locked the door behind me.  
I brought the box over to the couch, plopping it on my lap as I sat back down. Oliver sat beside me, still refusing to take his eyes off the box. I stared at it for some time, trying to decide whether I should open it or not – it could explode and kill us all for all I know.

"Don't open it," said Oliver softly, taking the box off my lap. "I'll dispose of it." My eyes followed him as he headed towards the door of my apartment, realizing that he was probably going to dump it in the massive trash disposal unit in the car park. I didn't want him to throw it out; I was curious after all. I sighed heavily, getting up again and grasping onto his upper arm to stop him from going any further. I heard him take a sharp intake of breath as he turned towards me.

"It could be something from my mother," I reasoned, trying to find a logical explanation for why I wanted to open that box so badly apart from plain old curiosity. Oliver didn't seem convinced by my words, simply staring at me with those soulless eyes of his. I scrambled for something to tell him before quickly giving him up. "Okay, I'm just curious," I admitted, avoiding eye contact with him for a few moments.

"No, look at this," he rebutted, pointing to the label on the side of the package. I followed his gesture, finding that there was no return address typed on the label. I rolled my eyes, prying the box out of his hands – I was already balls deep in the supernatural so if anything crops up; I'll make sure I handle it. "This is why you're in the situation you're in, Viv," he quipped, deadpanning. That hit hard. I'm sure he was talking about that time when I got copiously drunk and wandered into the forest alone, at night. I'm going to regret that day as long as I live. I shot him a glare as I slid to the floor where I stood, tearing into the package with difficulty (damn sticky tape).

And I encountered a box full of packing peanuts. Yeah, they keep your goods safe but they sure are a pain in the ass to dig through and dispose of. Frowning, I thrust my hand into the box, Oliver keeping his eyes on my hand, just in case it suddenly parted from my arm or exploded or something. My fingers grasped around something wrapped in bubble wrap. I stuck out my tongue as I pulled the small object and set to work tearing the wrap off it.

I fumbled the object once I realized what it was – a miniature, ceramic Statue of Elegy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Little Link**

Oliver recoiled from the statue like I had just pulled out a live snake from my pocket. My gaze focused entirely on the figure, studying its appearance. It looked so alike to the statue from the game that I could have sworn it was ripped straight from its code. It was perfectly crafted, by hand I presumed.

I brushed my thumbs over the slightly rosy cheeks of the figure, mesmerized by the cheeky look in its otherwise bleak eyes. It gave off a peculiar aura, like the thing was alive and perfectly capable of killing you yet it preferred to just sit and watch your descent into madness. I narrowed my eyes at how oddly specific that was.

Oliver reached out and prodded my cheek gently, causing me to startle and turn to him. He glared at it, clearly quite disgusted by the figure. Admittedly, I thought it was quite cute – right down to the fact that it looked so evil. I decided I'd give it a place on the desk in my room. "Relax, Oliver, if it's cursed, I can handle it and you know it."

I could feel a sinister aura coming from it so it probably was cursed or haunted (or both). Just to make sure I wouldn't be possessed, I wandered over to my closet I had set up earlier, preparing a seal to stick onto it to purify it. Once my task was complete, I set the figure down beside the television and gave Oliver what I hoped was a reassuring smile. He seemed to relax a little, before sitting down on the couch.

Well, back to the game now. That's right; Link was standing in Termina Field as a human again. I sat back down on the couch, wrapping my bony fingers around the controller as I began to play again.

I wandered around for a while, searching for anything amiss. I decided to head towards Woodfall when I noticed a gathering of characters standing in the middle of the field. I guided Link towards them, seeing that it was the Happy Mask Salesman, Skull Kid and the Statue of Elegy standing side by side, glaring at Link fixedly.

Epona stood opposing them, standing stock still. Their gazes scrutinized him, mocked him, their mouths twisted into shit-eating grins. Just what did they all have against Link? Or alternatively, BEN. Or maybe it's just Ben. To hell with it, I'm calling him Ben.

I noticed Oliver tense up as I moved Link's character around a bit, the stares of the three antagonists following him loyally. I looked down at the boy, wondering if he had his own comments to add to this. It was in this moment that I noticed that he was giving the Elegy of Emptiness statue a wary look every now and then.

"Them," he muttered, "right?" I knew instantly who he was referring to. I bit my lip and nodded slowly, realizing that they were very much alike those three assholes. Things were definitely beginning to make sense to me now and slowly, my mind began to piece together a story – one that was a little disturbing. I was enjoying the game, sure, but things were getting serious now.

Link, against my will, pulled out his Ocarina, clearly wanting me to play a tune of some description. Shrugging, I decided to play the Song of Healing backwards since that appeared to be the theme music of this version of Majora's Mask. The game chugged for a few moments, as if in some sort of shock, before all hell broke loose.

A bloodcurdling scream blasted from the speakers, one that failed to faze me much since it seemed a little cliched. It was sudden and that was it. Oliver, however, reeled back, grimacing in pain as he clasped his hands over his ears. On the screen, the sky began to flash rapidly, hurting my eyes and forcing me to look away. I noticed Link burst into flames again out of the corner of my stinging eyes.

Upon turning back to the screen, I was met with that phrase again; 'You've met with a terrible fate haven't you?' I frowned, feeling as though I had made a serious mistake. Perhaps I should have ignored them and headed towards Woodfall like I had original intended. On second thought, perhaps I should have ignored them in real life too; there would have been much less hassle. I heard the Happy Mask Salesman laugh as the scene transitioned once more.

This time, I was met with a cut-scene of Link transforming into a Zora, finding that he was now standing on the sands of Great Temple Bay. I saw Oliver grimace again as if remembering something distasteful, before his expression returned to its normal bleakness. Swiftly, I made my way towards the beach, where I found Epona gazing out over the water.

I felt like Epona was meant to symbolize someone decent in Ben's life since so far, she wasn't antagonizing him like the others. I noticed that she was continuously neighing at something in the direction that she was facing. I was hesitant to enter the bay, but I did so anyway and headed in the direction Epona was facing.

I swam around for a bit, trying to find something out of the ordinary, when I spotted it – another statue of elegy sitting upon the ocean bed. As I went down to get a closer look at it, I noticed that Zora Link began to twitch a little, his movements becoming slow and deliberate. I then realized that it was choking – drowning which was ironic since Zora are meant to be able to breathe underwater. Puzzled, I watched as Link choked to death before I was promptly booted out to the title screen again.

Oliver and I sat there for a time, simply staring at the title screen wordlessly. I glanced over at Oliver's notepad, seeing that he had written a considerable amount in that neat, curly writing of his. Slowly, the gears of my mind began to grind, translating all that I had just seen and fitting it into the puzzle.

Part of me kept saying that this really was Ben's doing but, just as I had said before, I refused to believe that until I had investigated further. I can't quite pinpoint why but the thought of being so close to the ghost of an old friend made me uncomfortable, almost disgusted which was unlike me since I was so used to the supernatural.

"I don't want to see any more," whispered Oliver in a monotone as he relaxed his tensed muscles, leaning backwards into the couch. I realized that he was clutching onto a pillow as if were a life-saving ring. Clearly the game had freaked him out – not everyone is as fearless as I am. He slid off the couch and onto the floor, hugging his knees close to his chest. "Hackers didn't do this."

I disagreed with him on that one; it was still a possibility. I hadn't experienced any other signs of haunting. But of course, the game being haunted seemed more likely at this point for the following reasons; Ben liked to play games and mess with people's minds; he refused to give up until he had had his revenge and Majora's Mask just so happened to be his favorite game. And, on top of all that, the game was lost as the bottom of the lake around the day of his death – which alluded to the theory that he may have done something with it.

Yet part of me still refused to accept that and to be honest, I have no idea why.

It was like if I dared to accept that Ben was back, something deep inside me would snap.

"We can't be sure yet Oli-," he cut me off with his own words, something he rarely did.

"I'm going home," he said curtly, getting to his feet. "I can catch a Taxi."

I called his name, trying to get him to stay and puzzle through this with me but he would have none of it, refusing his answer as he left my apartment. I sighed, running a hand through my greasy white locks before telling myself that I'm just going to have to figure out all this stuff on my own for the time being. Maybe this would be a good time to set up my laptop and do some research. I went to switch the Nintendo 64 off, getting a much larger shock than normal. I cursed at the thing, sucking my stinging finger.

I headed to my room and towards my desk, where my new laptop sat. It didn't take me long to set up, since I was pretty savvy with technology. I made sure that it was plugged in so it wouldn't power down without my knowing. I was about to type down my findings in the game and my analysis of them on OneNote when I realized that wasn't the safest place to do so. I settled for my physical notebook as per usual. It took me a significant amount of time to take all of my thoughts down but I was pleased with myself for being able to come up with so many concepts so late at night.

After writing everything down, I stared at the Google Chrome symbol on my laptop, wondering if the Internet would have any further information on this. Shrugging and figuring it was worth a shot, I double clicked on it and began searching.

First of all, I looked up 'haunted Majora's Mask cartridge.' My eyes glanced over the search findings, settling upon the second option. BEN Drowned – Creepypasta Wiki. I shook my head in dismay, realizing that it was another one of those... _things_. I was familiar with that site; I used it for information on many occasions. Of course, much of it was false but, as I've found out the hard way, some of them are true.

I clicked on it eagerly and began to read.

I learnt about Jadusable's personal encounter with this particular Majora's Mask cartridge, finding that his experiences were quite similar to mine. However, things were different here and there, as if the game had changed itself just for me. Jadusable also appeared to have nightmares associated with the ghost, clear evidence of haunting.  
Other things also seemed to be going amiss in his life due to the ghost.

I couldn't fully discredit the credibility of the article since my own experiences were so similar. I wondered if I could meet with this Jadusable and gather further information but I decided against it since, after researching further, I've found that he's quite literally disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

I groaned, leaning back into my chair, tapping my nails on the polished wood of my desk. Lazily, my eyes drifted towards the mini Statue of Emptiness that I had only just now realized was standing right there. Surprised, I narrowed my eyes at it.

"Just what is your purpose?" I asked it out of suspicion. It had showed up out of nowhere and clearly had a mind of its own. It did nothing in response, simply grinning at me as per normal. I smirked at it, thinking that it was probably just there to freak me out. "Good luck, kid, nothing scares me anymore," I added nonchalantly. I twisted the statue around so that it was no longer able to stare at me.

When I was a child, I was very easily frightened. Ben would always take advantage of that and think up all sorts of ways to scare me shitless. Fortunately for me, his methods would only amuse me or annoy me, depending on which tactic he used.

What to do now? Well, I could study, but Ben was consuming my every thought at the moment so I soon gave up on that prospect. I leaned back, turning slowly in my chair as I thought. Ben was taking things slow with me, I supposed. With Jadusable, he did things a little different, most likely bored of doing the same things over and over again (he was easily bored). What was he waiting for? I wondered. Yawning, I figured I'd throw in the towel for tonight, switching off my laptop. I lay on my back in bed, staring at the roof for a time before a time before I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

 _"So it begins."_

I awoke that morning to find a number of things out of place. For example, that little Link statue was in my bed, resting on the pillow beside me and staring right at me. I didn't think too much of it, despite being fully aware of how out of place that was. I picked the statue up and placed it on my bedside table, stretched, and got to my feet. Upon glancing over at my desk, I saw that my lap top was on, just on a blue screen. I switched it back off irritably, hoping that it wasn't broken. I then showered and had breakfast as normal.

I didn't have University today, which gave me time to focus on my job and study. Speaking of my job, I shoveled a spoonful of cereal in my mouth as I flipped open my phone, searching through my emails. To my surprise, I had amassed four jobs in my inbox which meant I would definitely have my work cut out for me today. They were all spirit related, which I had been expecting. Something big was certainly coming – most likely a powerful ghost or demon. I just hoped that it would take its sweet time in getting here so it wouldn't get in my way right now.

I then realized that I had two other messages, one from Oliver and one from 2, which made me grimace. I checked out Oliver's message first. It consisted of two words 'staying' and 'home' which meant that clearly what he had seen yesterday had upset him. I decided to go visit him if I have time today to see if he's okay. I was apathetic, sure, but Oliver was my only friend and I was willing to keep him by my side.

Now, for 2's message. Painstakingly, I looked at it, finding nothing out of the ordinary for him, just another message to get a move on with my mission. Like Oliver's message, it was short and sweet, consisting of only five words 'do you want to die?' Naturally, I don't so I reminded myself to get working on that mission so I don't end up dead or worse. I hate them, I really do. Part of me would actually rather die than work for them but, since there are things I want to do before I die, I put up with them.

I groaned and stared out the window, watching the rain patter against the window panes. I wish BEN or Ben or whatever would just show up and make his presence known in my household so I could deal with him. He seemed powerful enough to do so. Sure, I could work with the card itself and summon him directly but that causes so many issues that it's not worth the risk.

The best I could do for now is try to tempt him out of there. Being stubborn was one way, since ignoring anyone would piss them off but that would only work in the long term. But, it definitely was the safest way. Alright, that means no more game playing – as curious as I was about his game. Not playing it would irritate him and likely cause him to try to tease me into playing it.

I suppose I'll just focus on my regular life, maybe research the whereabouts of my target, so on and so forth. I felt a little irritated by that since I was so worked up over Ben but the thought of him becoming more active made me feel better about my decision.

Now, time to get of my ass and get ready for a day of exorcising spirits and Shadows.

That damn Statue of Emptiness would not leave me alone. I was sure now, that it was possessed, possibly by the very same ghost that haunts that Majora's Mask card. I didn't know for sure, of course, but it was the most likely option. Anyway, it turns out that ignoring the thing was much harder than I had originally expected. I made mistakes all throughout the day, mistakes that I wouldn't have thought I'd ever make.

Most of them I swear weren't my fault - I felt like I was being set up. Every time this happened, that little Link would be somewhere nearby, watching me with that mocking glare. It pissed me off so much I wanted to smash that thing into dust with the heel of my custom leather boot but, since I was meant to be ignoring it, I decided to simply grit my teeth and deal with it.

Finally, I finished all my jobs, worked up and tired. I was on my way to Oliver's house, to make sure he was doing okay. It wasn't like him to stay home all day – when he wasn't at University he was busy working at the corner store on his street. The one day he was free, Friday, he'd spend it at the library reading about God knows what (he never tells me). Finally, I pulled up at his familiar house.

I skipped up the front steps and rapped my bony knuckles on the door. His mother answered as per usual, informing me that he was up in his room. I made my way through the house, already feeling at home since I had spent so much time here in the past. I trotted up the creaky, carpeted stairs, my gaze lingering on a framed photograph of Oliver and me when we were children. My gaze softened whilst I looked at it.

That was back when I was young, innocent; blissfully unaware of what was really out there. Just look at that cheery, bashful smile cutting into my pale cheeks. I had not a single care in the world – I was happy. I wonder if I still feel that way now. I smirked at the memory of my mother's desperate attempts to stop me from leaving the house - her screaming at me that the world was simply 'painful.'

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I skipped over the landing and made my way towards Oliver's room. I knocked before I entered, refusing to wait for his answer. He sat in the middle of his bed with his back to me. Lying scattered about him, were hundreds of sheets of loose paper. There was a large box beside him that he appeared to be going through. I noticed that he also had a notebook beside him, covered with notes he had made.

"Oliver, what the hell are you doing?" I questioned, startling him. He whipped around, eyes wider than normal. He looked a little frightened, like he had been caught doing something illegal. I placed my hand on my hip and leaned against the door frame, staring at him expectantly. He sighed heavily, tapping the bed space next to him with his index finger. I pushed myself off the door frame and sat cross-legged beside him.

I looked down to the space before him, my eyes widening as I noticed all the images and newspaper articles he had unearthed. I gave him a questioning look, to which he actually answered.

"Evidence of other hauntings by this one entity," he explained in a mumble. "Take a look."

I did as I was told without hesitation, going through every single photo and article. He was right, there were at least ten other witnesses of this game – seven of them having committed suicide or have been placed in asylums. He was driving people insane, quite literally. I don't know what he did that drove so many people crazy but I wasn't too keen on finding out. I was on the last photo now, one that must have gotten mixed up with the others.

It was a photograph of me, Oliver and Ben near the lake, each one of us smiling idiotically. Ben was standing beside me, his hand ruffling my long white hair. I had pricks of tears in my eyes, my hands raised as I attempted to free myself from his grip. Emotionless, I slipped the photo into my pocket on a whim before addressing Oliver on something that didn't quite add up.

"You said you didn't want to get involved, why are you helping out?" I asked him, confused. He didn't contradict himself, ever, but lately that was all he did. He shrugged expansively before returning to highlighting a particularly interesting article about a forty year old man drowning himself in his bathtub after three days of being in contact with the cartridge.

"I want you to get this over with," he answered plainly. "I never want to see him again."

He was right; I did need to get this over with. But there was no easy way of doing so. In order to exorcise his soul, I would need to draw him out of his card first and with all the Shadows around lately, doing such a ritual would run a very high chance of getting me possessed. The last time I was possessed, I murdered three people and narrowly escaped from the police. I had to lay low in Vegas for a year while things settled down. It was horrible and I still don't know why I haven't been locked up for life.

I picked up Oliver's notebook, scanning through the things he had written in his tiny handwriting. "Look, you know it's not that easy," I replied. "And I actually have some things I want from him before I banish him from this plane." It was true; there were a number of things I needed from him – like an explanation behind his game and his method of death. I already had a good idea but he tended to be pretty cryptic so I could have completely missed an important element.

"You need to sort this before it becomes a problem," he pointed out. I couldn't help but agree with him. "Don't you have to deal with that issue?" He was referred to my deadline. Hey, I couldn't keep something that important from my best friend now could I? I made sure I didn't tell him about who gave me the mission though, since he would be in serious danger if I did. I did, however, tell him that I was supposed to be 'dealing' with someone by the end of the month otherwise we'd never get to see each other again and my life would become utter hell.

"Yeah, but I'll get to that," I said, like I had been saying all month. Oliver frowned at this but didn't say anything more. "Look, if I ignore him long enough it will draw him out." He shook his head in disagreement.

"We don't have the time," he argued. I grabbed a fistful of the soft blankets beneath me, hissing through my teeth. I guess I could try using that method, though it didn't work the majority of the time and wasted a lot of my protective charms. Yet again, I was averse to this idea. I gnawed at my lip and suppressed a groan as I realized what it was. Nostalgia, dare I say it, along with a few childhood emotions I have long forgotten about. Dammit Vivian, stop being so sentimental.

Or maybe it wasn't nostalgia, maybe I just wanted to play this game with him? I thought I had enough of games.

Oh fuck it.

"Fine, Oliver, I'll try something maybe but I can't promise anything." He seemed satisfied with my answer, nodding appreciatively. I wondered why he was suddenly so desperate to be rid of him but I abstained in asking him – he didn't look like he wanted to talk anymore. He hugged his knees close to his chest, tucking his face into them.

"Vivian…I-," he was interrupted by a sudden, terrified scream from downstairs, making the both of us jump in shock. Oliver's eyes widened to the size of saucers as we got to our feet. We ran down the stairs without hesitation, with me in the lead. Adrenalin and shock will do that to you – make you react without any thought or logic. The scream had emanated from the kitchen so we skidded across the tiles in that direction. In under a minute, we had made it.

I could hear the whirring of the trash disposal from the sink, my eyes settling on the screaming and crying form of Oliver's mother on the kitchen floor. Sticky, crimson blood flowed from her mutilated fist, her other hand clawing at it as she writhed in pain. I grimaced at the mess – I hate cleaning up blood. Oliver looked on in horror before grabbing a tea towel and rushing to his mother's side. Figuring I might as well, I whipped out my phone and called an ambulance.

"What happened!" I yelled at Oliver's mother. She glared up at me through bleary eyes, trying her best to answer despite all the pain she was in. Her words came out in painful gasps.

"I was getting rid of some food," she panted through her wails. "It wouldn't turn off and my fingers got stuck." I stared fixedly at the blood leaking from her mangled fist, nodding slowly. My mind went completely blank as I stared, vaguely aware of an odd hissing sound at the back of my mind, like static. My heart began to thud quicker in my chest. I clenched my fists and forced myself to look away before I attempted anything. It was at that moment that I spotted something sitting in the sink.

I stepped towards the sink, ignoring the blood and chunks of flesh as best I could (damn blood lust - not my fault). My bit my lip to stop myself from swearing as I saw that little damn statue sitting amongst the blood and flesh, grinning his cheeky little head off. I snatched him up, wiping the blood from its rosy cheeks before stuffing it into my pocket without a word. I turned my back on Oliver and his injured mother.

"I'm going home," I said curtly, heading towards the door. If Ben was pulling this kind of shit, then I really needed to do something. He must have guessed that I was going to ignore him; otherwise he wouldn't have made such a leap. I was mildly surprised by the fact that I refused to believe that what happened to Oliver's mother was just an incident – no, it can't be. Oh, just to clarify things, I don't care much about Oliver's mother; I just don't want to blow my cover.

Killing Oliver's mother wouldn't be the wisest thing for me to do right now, after all. On top of that, I had no reason to kill her whatsoever - it would be a waste of time, energy and life.

After fetching Oliver's notes from his room, I drove home as quickly as a (mostly) law abiding citizen could do, ran up the stairs to my apartment and locked the door behind me. I took the Link statue out of my pocket, strode over to the window, thrust it open and pelted the thing at the stony ground from twenty stories high. I did it on impulse, screaming at myself to just relax before I did something I couldn't take back. I breathed in deeply, letting go of a long sigh, relaxing somewhat. I found that I was pleased that I had dealt with the statue. Sure it was cute, but in the few hours it's been in my possession, it's caused a deal of trouble.

"Dammit Ben," I muttered to myself as I slumped onto my sofa, massaging my temples. I needed to think rationally. Well, there goes the whole 'hacker' theory – this was definitely the work of a ghost. Congratulations, Vivian, you're being haunted by another game-orientated ghost. I've been haunted by a number of ghosts before but Ben appeared to be one of the more powerful ones – it isn't all that easy to control a figure like that without possessing it.

Screw drawing this thing out using a ritual – I had the feeling he could do that on his own. "Ben, I know you're there," I said loud and clear. "Honey, I know you're trying to scare me but all you're doing is pissing me off. Sure, keep playing your games but I'm going to play you back to the best of my ability." I fell silent, tuning into my environment for any hint of a response. All I could here was the pattering of rain against the window and the creak of the floorboards upstairs.

Alright, tomorrow I'll try a good old trick I learnt for pissing off ghosts. I smirked at the thought. In the meant time, a gurgle from my stomach alerted me that I was extremely hungry and that I forgot to go shopping. Shit. I pulled out my phone and ordered pizza, figuring I'd watch some Netflix while I waited. I switched on the television and, as to be expected, it went straight to the Majora's Mask start screen. I didn't even turn the Nintendo 64 on. I rolled my eyes and unplugged the machine so that I could actually watch some television in peace.

I let the warm water soothe my muscles as I had what was my first shower since I moved in. Yeah, disgusting I know but I've been very busy lately. I soon got to work cleaning myself from head to toe, being gentle with some newly formed scars. I frowned at them, reminding myself yet again of that deadline. I should probably track that guy down and arrange my travel requirements – there was no way in hell he would be in Toronto after everything that happened.

That meant that I would need to do some extensive research. Maybe not tonight though, I needed to get some decent sleep every once in a while. I slipped a towel around my wet skin as I stepped out of the shower. I almost shouted in anger once I saw that stupid Link statue standing on the edge of my sink. I watched it shatter on the ground a couple of hours ago – clearly, Ben had more gifts than I was expecting. I guess I was stuck with this thing. I picked the statue up.

"I have a little surprise for you tomorrow, Benny," I sneered. "Watch out for it."

I reached up and opened the cabinet, placing the statue inside and snapping it closed. I doubt it'll be in that same spot later but for now, it was out of sight. I heard a knock at my door, meaning that the pizza was here. I answered the door, paid the delivery boy and wandered to the kitchen table, eating in silence. I stared around my apartment as I ate; noticing that the shadows that generally clung to the corners of the poorly lit room had taken on an abnormal appearance. They were flickering, wobbling, despite the light source being fairly stable.

I hoped that seal on the door holds, otherwise I'd probably wake up possessed by a Shadow. I got the feeling that something big has showed up. The spike in Shadows occurred around the same time I came across the Majora's Mask cartridge, which lead to the theory that Ben was powerful enough to draw them to him. That was a problem. If I didn't exorcise Ben soon, the number of shadows will continue to increase. Unless, of course, Ben tells them personally to leave him alone.

The thought of getting rid of Ben so soon evoked mixed emotions within me. There were things I wanted from him so exorcising him in the next day or so would leave me without answers. That means that I need more freedom from the Shadows in order to prolong the amount of time I can keep him around for. That meant that I need to force him into telling the Shadows to piss off.

After finishing my food, I left the box to the ants and headed into my bedroom, completely ready for bed. As I passed by my desk, I noticed that my laptop was on. Funny, since I hadn't used it today. I sat down in the swivel chair, about to turn it off when I noticed that it was open on a word document. Curious, I drew my gaze to it, finding that it had a number of words typed up.

 **BEN did it**

Beneath that was a photo of Oliver's mother's mangled hand.

 **Oh, and that little trick you have in mind?**

 **Bring it on, Vivi**

 **~Love BEN**

Now that was certainly the boy I knew from my childhood. Sure, he was more twisted now, but his underlying, obnoxious personality was still intact. I shook my head in dismay, holding the power button until the screen went dark. Things are going to get interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Black Out**

I awakened to the bleeping of my iPhone as it desperately screamed out for me to answer it. I groaned, rolling over in my bed and fumbling for the infuriating device. I answered the thing, pressing the speaker up to my ear, completely forgetting to check who it was. A smooth, calm voice answered my lazy question of 'what.'

"You're running out of time, severely," he said to me. I groaned and literally rolled out of bed, smacking my forehead on the wooden floorboards, prompting me to moan in pain. What a great wake up call – I don't like to be reminded of my missions. He was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"If you don't get a move on soon, he will lose his patience."

"But he's so damn patient with you!" I yelled, too weary to deal with his shit right now. Fortunately, I was dealing with the least infuriating, twitchy and murderous of the trio; or at least in my opinion anyway. "He even extends your deadline once in a while." Silence again. These bastards are never straight with me, always playing games.

"I'm his favorite," he answered finally, prompting me to snicker in both disgust and humor. "Just get things dealt with before he loses his temper." I snorted in mock laughter.

"Yeah, and I'll make sure to pick up some cheesecake after I'm done. We can have a little celebration with balloons and shit," I remarked vehemently. He hung up on me after that, leaving me alone at last. Or at least I wished I was alone.

remembered that I also had Ben to deal with today, a prospect that, in my current mood, only made me more annoyed. But, in the end, the effort would probably be worth it. Luckily, I didn't have University today, but, according to my emails, I did have another three exorcisms today.

At this rate, people will start calling me 'The Exorcist'.

How the hell did I get involved with all of this?

No, I wasn't regretting my decisions – there was no point in doing that, I was just wondering what happened to that adorable, innocent girl I was all those years ago. Maybe it was those 'bed time' stories my mother used to tell me, or maybe it was something to do with her little speech about my closest and how there probably are monsters hiding in there. My mother was an odd woman but I loved her anyway; she made me fearless, one way or another.

Or perhaps it was my father, he was just as involved with the supernatural as she was, though he didn't hide from it, he drew it all in with open arms. No, they both played an equal part, even if they weren't working with one another.

I still remember the first monster I truly met and, to be frank, I got over the initial fear much quicker than any normal child would. I screamed and ran but after having run some distance, I stopped and turned, to see if it was following. I was more excited than frightened, I guess – I wanted to see just what it could do to me. My mother saved me that day; I would have died if she hadn't grabbed my wrist and dragged me back inside.

With my parents on my mind, I decided to get off the floor and face the life we've worked together to create for me. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't made my own, personal decisions. I made the choice to follow their guidance, follow in their footsteps.

I switched off my laptop, which was on yet again, this time with a lovely wallpaper of a Statue of Elegy leaking blood from its empty eyes. After doing so, I turned and almost tripped over the miniature statue that had somehow appeared in my room overnight. I moved it with my foot over beside the wastebasket before heading to the kitchen and fixing myself some breakfast.

I called Oliver in my car just before I drove off to my second job of the day though he didn't pick up. Immediately, I was met with his usual voice message of an annoyed sigh followed by a beep. I don't tend to leave voice messages but after what happened yesterday, I decided to make one of my very rare attempts to be a good, supportive friend. I was sure he'd appreciate that.

"Hey, Olli, if anything unusual happens, call me. I'm here for you, okay? I'm the girl that saved your ass from all those things when we were younger, remember? Trust me," I muttered after the beep, trying to sound as believable as possible, which was hard. I laughed at myself as I hung up the phone – have I gone soft? Soft is a word that definitely shouldn't be used to describe me ever. I thought for a few moments, recalled a few things I had done recently, grimaced and concluded that I was definitely not 'soft.'

The rest of my day went by without too many annoyances. That Link statue got in the way here and there but apart from that, it made itself fairly scarce. On the way home from my final job, I decided to drop into the closest supermarket and buy some supplies. After parking my car in a sleazy car park out back and grabbing a trolley, I entered the supermarket.

Ignoring the musty smell the air conditioning was stirring around, I made my way down the aisles, keeping my gaze strictly on what I was doing and nothing else. You could meet some pretty shady people in supermarkets at this late hour, believe it or not. My gaze wandered for a mere moment, settling on a man with sickly pale, almost grey skin who was wearing thick, black sunglasses despite being indoors. His clawed hands were clasped around some packets of raw meat, his cracked lips twisted in a frown like he was extremely displeased with what was on offer.

I watched as he wiped away a smudge of something gooey and black that had just trickle past his sunglasses. I ignored the sudden desire to rip those glasses off his face and discover what he was hiding behind them. I noticed his neck twitch, prompting me to turn as he turned to look at me.

I ignored him, not wanting to get involved and continued shopping. Once through with the necessities, I moved on to gathering supplies for my little trick I was going to show Ben. Firstly, I picked up some onions. I went and paid for everything before heading back outside again. Secondly, I walked to a nearby dumpster and collected some filthy water from a large puddle beneath it into an empty pickle jar I had brought with me.

I chuckled to myself all the while, wondering what his reaction would be. Now, the dirty water on its own would be enough to irritate him since it's the closest I can get to lake water at the moment. But, since Ben hated onions when he was alive, I figured they would piss him off just that little bit more. And, on top of that, I liked using onions as a garnish so it would benefit me in two ways.

I was about to get into my car when I noticed somebody staring at me from a bench not too far from where I parked. I stared at him for a time, wondering why he looked so damn familiar. With a sharp intake of breath, I realised that it was the very same old guy I encountered outside the store where I picked up the Majora's Mask cartridge. As soon as I laid eyes on him, he snapped his gaze towards me, his weary eyes darting around wildly, looking absolutely terrified.

Raising an eyebrow, I figured he was just senile and hopped into my car. However, as soon as I kicked it into gear, the man leapt up from his seat in a matter of moments, throwing himself onto the hood of the car. I raised my eyebrows, jumping back a little as he began to claw at my window, screaming something. I think I made out the words 'leave him alone.' Not wanting to have to deal with the guy, I put the car into reverse and backed away quickly, prompting him to jolt off my car. As quickly as I could, I drove onto the main road and sped away, watching him yell and try to catch up to me in the rear view mirror.

I then noticed him stumble onto the street, still screaming. My lips parted and my eyes widened in shock as a truck smashed right into him, rolling over his twitching body with (or at least what I imagined to be) a sickening crunch and a squelch. I think his head was crushed. He was getting smaller and smaller in the distance now, though I could still see the pool of blood around him.

I realized that I was going to get into an accident if I didn't pay more attention to the road before me. Just before I turned around, I spotted the statue of elegy sudden appear on the seat in the back, with its back facing me. Since it had been stalking me all day, I dismissed it but I could have sworn its eerie, suspicious aura wavered for a moment.

I sat down at the table, setting the glass mixing bowel in front of me. I poured the dumpster water into the bowel, grimacing at the stench as I did so. The murky liquid sloshed to and fro as I added an entire shredded onion. I stirred the foul liquid with a plastic fork, resisting the urge to gag.

I then reached for Ben's game which I had placed beside the bowel. I made eye contact with the Statue of Elegy which was positioned a few feet away from the bowel. I lifted the card over the bowel, smirking. The aura the statue was emitting intensified, as if trying to warn me. I chuckled and slowly placed the card into the disgusting water.

Instantaneously, the lights went off.

"Got you, Benny," I chuckled, taking the black out as Ben's childish way of throwing a tantrum. The method I had just used was sure to increase the activity caused by a spirit that has possessed an object. Of course, in order to use this method you have to use elements that the spirit hated in life which, in Ben's case, is onions and, from what I had seen in the game and from my own deductions, water.

And, on top of all that, electronics and water do not mix.

For a few moments, I was too lost up in my pride to realize that I didn't have any source of light to see by. Once I did realize that, however, I remembered that my only torch broke after someone tried to use it as a projectile weapon (long story). I smiled fondly at his memory before setting out on a mission to find a portable light source.

Perhaps one of my next-door neighbors had a torch I could borrow or preferably keep. I grimaced at the thought of having to be nice to a stranger for a few moments but I soon convinced myself that, even with these sensitive eyes of mine, seeing clearly in the dark was impossible without a light. I groaned and headed for the hallway, tripping over several things on the way there.

I headed for the door immediately opposite mine since the door was easier to locate. Damn darkness, always leads to trouble. I felt a crawling sensation on my skin as I fumbled for the door handle and I'm sure it wasn't from the cold since I was wearing a pretty cosy leather jacket. The darkness seemed to be moving slightly, like it was some kind of conscious entity. Shadows, I presumed. I need to get a light as soon as possible – I am not getting possessed again.

The door, much to my convenience, was unlocked which I wasn't expecting it to be. I pushed open the door, my eyes immediately focusing on a flickering candle on a nearby table which cast a soft, warm glow over the center of the room. The flicker of the television set illuminated the hunched figure of an old woman sitting in her flower print arm chair, staring fixedly at what I assumed to be a news program, her face twisted in a grimace.

"Hey," I called out as nicely as I could, causing her to startle and draw her attention to me. "Can I borrow a torch?" I asked whilst trying to sound sweet. The look of shock on her face was soon washed away with a look of irritation.

"Perhaps if you say please," she said sternly. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Please?" I said in a rising tone, irritated by how piteous I sounded. She chuckled and hopped up from her chair, shuffling off some place where the light of the candle and the television did not reach. While I waited for her to return, I stepped further into her apartment, focusing my amber gaze on the television.

Currently, a grave looking news reporter was informing the general public about the death of an elderly man who, according to witnesses, threw himself onto to road and chasing after a red KIA Rio, only to be hit by an oncoming truck. The screen cut to the deceased body of the man, a white sheet draped over him as to assure no one was traumatized by looking at his mutilated state.

That was the very man that I had come across moments ago, the story was uncanny. I hoped that the police wouldn't attempt to track me down – they would get much more than what they bargained for and they would be a big nuisance for me.

Soon enough, the woman ambled back into the light, handing me a small, LED torch. She than sat back down in her chair, turning her gaze back towards the television. "Poor soul," she muttered as the news reporter concluded the segment about the dead man. I nodded slowly, emotionlessly.

"By the way, how is your television on?" I questioned.

"It runs on batteries, dear," she said simply. I raised my eyebrows at her answer – I had never seen a battery run television in my life. Never mind that right now though, I have to get back to my apartment before someone or something takes advantage of the open door. I didn't thank her for the torch, despite being grateful I had a light source – I don't 'thank' people, it's as simple as that. Therefore, after the lady's words, I simply left the room (if not a touch awkwardly).

As I entered the hall once more, I flicked on the torch and wondered when the lights were going to come back one. As I did, I noticed the Shadows scatter out of the path of the light, their gaseous bodies shuddering, as if they were afraid.  
The blackout was most likely Ben's fault – I'm done with passing things off as a coincidence when it comes to him. This little boy was exciting a number of emotions within me, as creepy as that sounds. I was both deeply irritated by his presence, but I was also exhilarated and curious to see where things will end up.

I kept reminding myself, however, that I will end up a mindless puppet or dead in a ditch if I kept over focusing on him though.

As I traversed the shot space between the old lady's door and mine, my muscles tensed as the mood in the air changed. It felt like something was watching me through the haze of the Shadows, waiting to pounce and show me all that its malicious mind had conjured for me. Somebody probably was watching me, I surmised – someone always was, whether it be someone I know or someone I have no clue about. And it isn't just me that gets stalked, everyone does.

I made my way inside my apartment, locking the door behind me with a clunk that cut through the silence of the room. Quickly, the silence crept back in again. It would have easily suffocated or unnerved anyone who wasn't used to it. I, on the other hand, found it rather relaxing. The air was tense, just like it had been outside which made me certain something was keeping a very close watch on me.

I shone my torch around my apartment, letting its light illuminate the darkest nooks and crannies. I deduced that no one with a visible form was laying low beyond my line of sight, in wait of when I lowered my guard. Satisfied with my search, I stood in the center of the room, wondering what to do next. Well, I should probably study since I needed to get my ass over to Uni tomorrow, otherwise I was going to miss out on more lectures. I also had to find the location of my assigned target – he could be anywhere.

I was irritated by the thought of having to do all those trivial things but since they were necessary, I forced myself to make my way towards my room. My boots clunked on the wooden floor, echoing hollowly through the air. That, asides from my steady breathing and the rustle of my clothes, were the only sounds that I could hear.

As I stopped before my bedroom door, about to turn the door handle, I heard another sound. This one was coming from the bathroom across the hall – a gurgling, sploshing sound came to my attention. Intrigued, I turned towards the door, taking a step forward. My boot splashed into something wet. Water, I found, upon shining my torch at the liquid.

As I crossed the short space between my bedroom door and the bathroom, I found that the puddles increased in size, until they collated into one, massive puddle that leaked out from underneath the door. Grimacing at the mess I would have to clean later, I wrenched open the bathroom door, more water sloshing out into the hall with a rushing sound.

My eyes widened at the state my bathroom was in. Every single tap in the room had been turned on as far as the plumbing would allow them to be. The rushing sound the water made as it spilled over the sides of the bathtub and sink, made me feel as though I was standing right before a water fall. I barely had time to react as taps began to chug for a moment, like something was stuck in the pipes. Moments later, they erupted again, filthy, shit brown and slime green water flowing into the room.

Disgusted, I quickly set to work turning off all the taps without a second thought, splashing filth all over myself in the process. I knew this was Ben's work; for sure, but why use water to piss me off? I thought he hated water. Perhaps he did it since he knew how much I hated mess, especially muddy water and puke since they were so hard to clean up.

I supposed that after my trick on him, he decided to pay me back using the same methods, but to a further extent. It made sense to me so I stuck with my theory, even though it was hurried and not thought through.

I placed both hands on my head, gnawing on my lip as I furrowed my brows at the mess. Mud and slimy green substances now caked the tiles of my bathroom, flecked across every surface – even the roof. I didn't even know where to begin with all of this. Pulling my hands from my hair, I glanced down at my clothes which were drenched in muck. I noticed that everything now stunk like a mixture of rotting flesh and sickly shit. I gagged at the stench, pinching my nose to block it out. Concerned that my hair would stain with this shit, I paced over to the filthy mirror, wiping it off a little so that I could inspect my face and hopefully wash it off.

In doing so, I uncovered a letter that had been scrawled onto my mirror in thick, black marker. Curious, I wiped at the grime some more, revealing the rest of the statement. I sighed heavily in resignation at the words, before twisting my lips into a smirk. What did those words really mean? I guess I would have to find out soon. Just as I had finished gazing at the words, I noticed that there was now a figure standing directly behind me. However, as soon as I tried to focus on it, the hazy, electric green form disappeared, mystifying me.

"Well then," I chuckled, turning away from the mirror as I set off to find my cleaning supplies. "What kind of game are we playing then?" I asked the spirit in question, knowing full well he was listening very closely to me and gauging my every action.

What I had found written on that mirror were two, simple words:

 **NEW GAME**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Personal**

I sat myself down on the hard wood flooring, sighing in respite as my muscles relaxed. Cleaning up the mess Ben had made took a good hour and a half of frantic scrubbing. Thankfully, the bathroom was now in a usable state so I wouldn't have to use my next door neighbor's bathroom whenever I had to shower or relieve myself. I also removed the Majora's Mask cartridge from the bowel of dumpster water, setting it on top of the television for the time being.

After sitting on the floor for what felt like a good ten minutes, I heard a sudden, frenzied knock at the door. I pouted, feeling very reluctant to get to my feet and figured that I would just let the person give up in their persistent knocking and leave me alone. However, I soon abandoned that prospect since the knocking only became louder and more obnoxious.

What time was it? Twelve thirty at night I found, upon checking my phone. Just who the hell would come knocking so late at night? My mind then conjured a lengthy list of people I knew who would do that if they were obliged to. I rolled my eyes and heaved my lanky body to its feet, yelling a lazy 'I'm coming' as I trudged towards the door.

I muttered under my breath 'please don't be those dicks' as I twisted the doorknob. To my surprise, it was Oliver, someone who never turned up at my household uninvited. I was about to ask him why he didn't answer my call earlier when I saw the look on his face.

Like I've said in the past, Oliver doesn't express much emotion in his face. The emotion is there, just dulled down a lot. So what I saw in the brunette's eyes that night was enough to actually unnerve me, of all people, despite me being sure nothing could do that anymore. His glassy eyes were widened to an inhuman size, like saucers. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot and tears threatened to roll down his cheeks. His entire body shook, like he was about to collapse at any moment.

"What the hell happened to you?" I questioned, unable to keep the panic from my tone as he stumbled into my apartment, slamming the door closed behind him with a surprising amount of force. He swaggered towards my sofa, collapsing into the soft pillows. Now I was completely confused. I strode towards the couch, sitting down just in front of him, wondering if he was going to answer my question. He had probably heard me so I wasn't going to repeat it.

He clutched a pillow close to his chest, turning slightly so that he was facing outwards. Tears welled in his eyes, spilling over his rosy cheeks. His breathing was noisy and ragged and his pale, freckled skin was slicked in a cold sweat. He stared blankly at the television, bleary eyes filled with and emotion I had only seen a couple times before in him – dread.

He looked pathetic.

"Oliver," I muttered softly, unsure what was coming over me as I gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing him. I hadn't seen him look like that before; ever so whatever had frightened him was probably a very, very terrifying thing indeed. An emotion I had thought I had lost forever began to bubble up within me; pity. I pitied him – he was meant to be my friend after all.

"Can I sleep here?" he asked ever so softly. His voice was hoarse, like he had just been screaming. I was inclined to let him; whatever was it was that was haunting him most likely needed my attention but I wasn't going to allow him until I know for sure what I was dealing with.

"First, tell me just what's wrong," I said. "If it's something serious than I need to know."

"My mom is in the hospital. Dad is staying with her. I'm alone," he whined. Oliver hated being alone, that was true, but he never ended up like this so clearly, that wasn't what was bothering him. I let go of his shoulder as he suddenly tensed up even more than previously. He covered his eyes with his clammy hands and let out a shuddering breath. "Like I was trying to tell you earlier, I've been having nightmares lately."

Now this was a little concerning. Oliver was a very sound sleeper who rarely dreamed about anything at all so nightmares were definitely beyond the reach of his character. I couldn't know exactly what was giving him those dreams until he described them to me but I didn't want to accidentally throw him into a fit – that would be annoying and difficult to deal with.

But, it needed to be done.

"Explain them to me. I'm studying psychology, remember? I can help," I advised. My tone sounded soft and surprisingly sweet, a tone of voice I thought I wasn't even capable of using. I almost gagged on how sweet I sounded, wondering what the hell I was doing. Oliver shuffled around in his position, now lying on his back. His eyes connected with mine as he opened his mouth again, reluctantly.

"I'm in a dark room, a doctor's office I think. There is an electric green, hazy figure sitting at the desk, staring at me. He kept telling me something but I couldn't remember what it was. Slowly, the walls would close in and the figure would disappear. They would keep closing in until my entire body was crushed and I could see blood seeping out of my body. There were bones and guts, brains."

I grimaced at the thought of the mess. Oliver had always had a fear of enclosed spaces so I suppose that whatever was haunting him knew of that fear and was exploiting it.

"I have other dreams but I can't remember them properly. I wake up hurting and…," he trailed off, biting his lip. I already had a good idea of who was doing this but I still needed more from him, everything he could remember.  
"Describe what you can remember," I continued.

He began again after a couple minutes, slowly. "Any technologies in my dreams crackle with static. I can't move properly and I feel as though someone or something is controlling me. Other creatures lurk around in the dark, strange ones wearing masks and hoods. They laugh, mocking me."

"You're there – just sitting there, watching me with those evil yellow eyes. You smile. That statue, the Link one, was there too, just watching. Eyes were bleeding. I'm drowning in sludge, something is pulling me under," he explained in drawl.

"You're all working together."

Once or twice, his voice would suddenly pitch upwards before returning to its general monotone. I hadn't heard him speak that much for a very, very long time so his voice almost sounded foreign to me. His words filled my mind; becoming my first priority as I immediately set to work analyzing the sequence he had just described to me.

One thing was for sure; this was Ben's doing. The first part of his statement, the clearer one about being crushed, didn't need much analysis. It was obvious that it was a scare tactic alone, orchestrated by Ben. Depending on how sadistic Ben was feeling it was likely that he did it just to piss me off and scare the shit out of Oliver. That sounded about right to me.

But there were a number of things I had yet to comprehend. The other things he described made little sense. The people in masks and hoods he briefly spoke about didn't remind me of Ben at all – it reminded me of 1, 2 and 3 which concerned me since they should be nowhere near Toronto. I wasn't even sure they knew Oliver existed – no, that was naïve, of course they knew. So I decided to block out those thoughts for the moment.

What he said after that was a bit surprising if not offensive. He knows I wouldn't just sit by and watch him be tormented, yet he honestly seemed to believe that what his dream was showing him could become a reality. He also called my eyes 'evil' which they are not as far as I'm concerned – they're just eyes.

And I had just one last question.

"How long have you been having those dreams for?" I asked him sternly. This was important.

He slowly lifted his arm, pointing at the Majora's Mask cartridge on top of the television. Well, I guess that proves it for the time being. I couldn't quite point out why I felt so pissed off about him tormenting Oliver like that. Perhaps it was because he was frightened more easily than I am? Maybe Ben knew it would take time to scare me, if at all, so he took out his pent up rage on Oliver? I don't know I was jumping to conclusions here.

But I now knew that I needed to do something about Ben, instead of just letting him do whatever the hell he wants. I tilted my head towards Oliver, who was currently staring at me like I held all the answers – which I didn't because I'm only human.

"I'll make a protective charm for you that'll ward off the nightmares. Get some rest for now, you shouldn't have any nightmares tonight," I said. He won't be having any nightmares tonight since I'll most likely be finished making the charm by the time he reaches that particular stage in his sleep pattern. Oliver seemed satisfied with my answer, a small smile on his lips as he wiped his tears away with the back of his sleeve.

"Thank you, Vivi," he uttered in relief as he nestled into the pillows, reluctantly drawing his eyelids shut. Promptly after, I got to my feet and fetched the items I needed to make him a charm, trying to get myself busy so I could forget all these soft emotions that were seeping through my rage. After gathering everything, I sat down with my back against the back of the couch, my fingers working away at the various gems and leather strips I had.

It took me a good while to finish, at least an hour but in plenty of time in comparison to Oliver's sleep cycle. I got to my feet, listening to his soft snores as I crept around to where he lay. I studied his face for a moment, taking in the peaceful expression on his face as his breath gently tugged at his locks of straight brown hair. I reached for his hand, uncurling his fingers as I placed the pedant I had just made into the palm of his hand.

Giving him one last look, I turned my back on him, ignoring the nagging worries at the back of my mind. I needed to get some rest myself; otherwise I was going to go insane a lot quicker than I should be. Stretching my long arms and cracking my back, I headed into my bedroom, leaving the door open just in case Oliver needed something or woke up screaming in the middle of the night – wouldn't want to run into the door whilst getting up to see what was going on.

Soon after, I feel asleep, soft words hitting my ears just before I drifted into unconsciousness.

 _"It's time."_

I woke up much too early that morning; at around three o'clock I found, after checking my phone. I quickly found that I was woken up by Oliver tapping away at my laptop, looking clearly disturbed by something. Furrowing my brow, I rolled out of bed, this time managing to get my hands up before I hit my head on the floor. I moaned as I pulled myself to my feet, cracking my shoulder as I trudged over to Oliver.

"Cleverbot was open," he muttered. That's great and all but what the hell is he doing up so early? I need my sleep – I don't want to end up like those things from that Russian experiment I read about. I expressed this concern to Oliver in a whine as I leaned over his shoulder, reading through the conversation he was currently having with the AI. In all honesty, I've visited that site a few times in the past, just for shits and giggles.

Speaking of shits and giggles; the conversation he was having with the bot was rather funny. I chuckled, simultaneously spotting the cheerful smile on his face as he typed his response. I hung over his shoulder for a little while longer, the both of us paying close attention to the conversation. I guess we were both just using it to distract ourselves from what was going on around us.

A gurgle from deep in my gut alerted me to my sudden hunger, prompting me to leave Oliver's side to make some breakfast.

"You want some?" I called as I entered the kitchen, trying to remember if I had anything good to eat. I grinned upon finding some eggs and bacon. "I can make scrambled eggs and bacon." I bluntly remembered that was one of Oliver's favourite breakfasts – what a coincidence.

"Yes, please," he replied. I barely heard him since he refuses to yell, ever.

Promptly, I set to work making breakfast, checking my emails as I pushed the eggs around in the pan. There were two jobs today which meant I would spend a lot less time meandering around the city and wasting my hard earnt supplies. Although, I will probably get more as the day progresses. I began to hum as I continued cooking, just as doubt began to crawl into the back of my mind, slowly creeping over all my cheerful thoughts.

This morning was too idealistic, too peaceful – something had to go wrong. Sure, I might be jinxing my luck but after everything that's happened to me lately, I seriously doubt today could progress so peacefully. Well, that thought definitely put a damper on my mood. I served breakfast onto two plates and brought them back to the bedroom. Oliver dug in immediately, making me wonder when the last time he ate was. I sat cross legged on the bed, shoveling slightly burnt eggs into my mouth.

We ate in silence. My eyes were trained on Oliver, watching his childish face light up as he hastily ate, getting specks of food all over his lips. Apparently, the electricity had come back on earlier, since the lights were all in perfect working condition; which was good since those Shadows were really beginning to get on my nerves.

Suddenly, I heard an odd popping sound coming from my laptop. Puzzled, I placed my now empty dish down on the bed before heading over to the desk again. Oliver had already begun tracking the source of the noise, his eyes widening at what he was seeing on the screen. He pushed the chair backwards, as if shying away from what he was seeing.

It appears that Cleverbot had changed the conversation from its regular bullshit to some surprisingly relevant statements.

 **Cleverbot: Don't get in the way Oliver**

I sighed heavily, recalling that Jadusable had encountered Ben in Cleverbot during his experiences. He most likely haunted the internet in some way, able to subtly control things here and there. I chuckled at that thought – out of everything I could think of; possessing the internet was probably the stupidest thing for a ghost to do. I grimaced at the mere thought of those creepypasta fangirls.

Looking down at my laptop, I figured I might as well respond.

You: Good morning, bastard

I grinned to myself as google translate opened, the very words I had just typed in being pasted into the search box. It translated into something that really wasn't what it meant, prompting me to chuckle gleefully. My father taught me Japanese when I was younger, since it's his native language. It doesn't come in handy much, but it sure is fun to use.

 **Cleverbot: It's been a while since you've played, Vivi**  
You: I'm busy, you've been watching me so I figured you'd realize that, idiot  
 **Cleverbot: That doesn't mean I shouldn't be your first priority**  
You: So, just why do you want me to play more, Benny?

At this point, Oliver sauntered up to my side, clinging onto my arm. He glared at the screen, hostility in his eyes. He seemed a little fearful, prompting me to remember that Ben had been giving him nightmares for about a week now. I needed to address that sooner or later.

 **Cleverbot: You love stories don't you?**  
You: Yes  
 **Cleverbot: And analyzing all the secret messages behind the print**  
You: And your point is?  
 **Cleverbot: I'm telling you a story**  
You: I'm aware of that and I've decoded some of the nonsense you've showed me.  
 **Cleverbot: What do you think?**  
You: It's interesting, fun I guess  
 **Cleverbot: Others found it sick, frightening**  
You: That's because they're pathetic  
 **Cleverbot: Haha. Aren't you wondering how I possessed your precious laptop?**  
You: Sure, fire away  
 **Cleverbot: A single wire**  
You: Is that so  
 **Cleverbot: You're missing details; I've seen your notes**  
You: I'll get to playing the game after I've sorted things  
 **Cleverbot: I won't let you**  
You: You can't stop me  
 **Cleverbot: Keep telling yourself that**  
You: No really, I can just exorcise you right here and now  
 **Cleverbot: I'm more powerful than you know; your methods are futile against me**  
You: Where are you getting you lines from? So clichéd, Benny  
 **Cleverbot: Remember what I wrote on the mirror**  
You: How could I forget, I spent ages cleaning it up  
 **Cleverbot: I meant it; I'm trying something special this time. Since you're an old friend and basically fearless.**  
You: Bring it on  
 **Cleverbot: You will regret that**

I snickered as I was thrown out of Chrome altogether. What? I couldn't help myself – I love playing games with people who think they can control me using scare tactics, makes me feel powerful. I pushed Oliver's hand away, giving him a reassuring nod, like I had some sort of plan in mind. Clearly, he didn't buy it and reached over, holding the power button on my laptop. I commanded him to stop but it was too late, the laptop was already shutting down.

"Oliver, I was taunting him," I said, giving him a stern glare. He returned my glare intensely, something I had never seen him do before. He gripped my shoulder much harder than I was expecting him to. I rewarded him with my attention.

"Exorcise him, now. You heard him. If things keep going the way they are, you'll be in serious danger," he reasoned. I considered his words for a moment. Ben clearly wanted all of my attention to be focused on him yet right now, I really couldn't afford to give him that. I realized that lately, I have been thinking about him a lot and messing around but really, I was running out of time.

Oliver was right; I needed to give up this game, despite how much I wanted to play on.

Yet the thought of doing so made me actually upset. I felt like a heavy weight was pressing on my chest. Why? I had gotten over Ben's death nine years ago and had been much too distracted with everything else in my life to think about him too much. But Ben had created a number of questions that I needed to answer; ones that I didn't want to get wrong. I needed him around to answer them. And, in all honesty, I wanted to play his game, find out how he died, and find out why my friend was taken so violently away from me all those years ago.

Huh, maybe I do care, maybe just a little. I was going soft. Damn childhood, filled with nostalgia and innocence. Perhaps I wanted to reconnect with those times, when things weren't so troublesome, when I wasn't involved with all the shit I am now. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

I knew what to do now – I couldn't give myself over to my past like this. Ben needed to be put to an end. I needed to go to University, I needed to locate my victim, I needed to push on without any more distractions. Before I get another call from them letting them know that if my victim's head didn't roll in the next few days, mine will.

"Oliver," I said, clenching my fists. "Leave, I'll sort things out."

Oliver got up out of his chair, expressionless again. He nodded in agreement, before turning his back on me, his sneakers clunking heavily on the wooden floors as he headed towards the door. Just before he left my apartment, he smiled halfheartedly at me and thanked me for the charm. I flashed a quick smile back as he closed the door with a click behind him,

I listened to his footsteps grow more and more distant as he headed down the hall. As soon as I could no longer hear them, I dashed into the bathroom, glaring at myself in the mirror. I made eye contact with the yellow irises in my reflection, sighing shakily.

If only my gift could allow me to see more, see the things that wanted to stay hidden, that were more intelligent than the Shadows. My father often spoke in tomes about how he could enhance my sight even further, so that I could see ghosts and poltergeists without the use of any sort of ritual or charm. My mother often sat in on these lectures, arguing with her ex-boyfriend about how terrible that idea was and that I was already involved enough as it was by default.

Every time, it came down to me. I hated the Shadows, hated their twisted faces, and hated their constant whispering. So I disagreed with my father, telling him that I didn't want to see any more 'scary things.' Now I wish I had taken him up on his offer, my life would be much easier right now.

Well, I was planning on visiting him soon anyway; I may as well ask him about it then.

Then again, what would be the benefits to seeing Ben? He'd most likely be even more of a nuisance that way, capable of making me even more annoyed and angered. But I would, however, ruin all of his plans. I chuckled at the thought. I gasped in mock, pointing at the still curtains by the window, creating a situation in my mind. Just who is that tugging at the curtains? Oh, if only I could see them. Wait, yes I can, it's Ben. Seeing ghosts and poltergeists takes away many of their interesting accolades.

Upon putting it that way, I shrugged, feeling somewhat proud of my reasoning.

Anyway, I drew my gaze away from the mirror. Enough procrastinating, I had a ritual to perform.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: New Game**

I had scoured my apartment from top to bottom, on the verge of panic. I couldn't find any of my supplies; no seals, charms, rock salt, candles – nothing. I always assured I had an extensive stock of things, since I could never predict when I'd be in desperate need of them. I kept everything in either the trunk of my car or in the lockable chest at the foot of my bed so to have everything just disappear like that was immensely frustrating.

I fished my keys out of my pocket, stomping towards the door. I needed to head out and get some more things but, the problem with that was that the shop I frequented was on the other side of the city so it would take me at least two hours to get there, especially with the traffic and all.

But I knew I had to, not just so I can deal with Ben but so I can deal with everything else too.

I stormed out into the hallway, slamming and locking the door behind me. I tore my hand through my loose strands of white hair, resting my head against the door for a moment, sighing heavily. I soon turned away from the door, heading off down the hall. I don't know why I was so impatient to get this done, despite having left the exorcism for so long.

I started down the stairs at a jog, steadying my hand on the peeling, yellow plaster walls. There had to be some materials left in the trunk of my car from earlier – I always have emergency supplies tucked away in a 'secret' compartment. As I walked down the stairs (shitty place had no elevator), I made an effort of telling myself that there was really no need to rush. I quickly believed my words and slowed my pace.

Upon making it to the ground floor of the apartment – a dingy dump of a place with patchy leather couches, stain speckled coffee tables, dusty plastic pot plants and a stingy old woman by the main desk – I strode towards the wooden doors that led out onto the street. I headed over to the stairs that lead down into the car park below the building, wondering if the lights were working (which they often weren't). I slowed my pace as I walked down the steep, winding staircase, not wanting to trip.

I raised my defence as I stepped into the carpark, letting the heavy steel door slam behind me. Thankfully, the old halogen lights were functioning today, if not flickering every few minutes. A white glow was cast upon the sprawling, concrete room, reflecting off the sparse number of cars. Cautiously, I walked towards the back of the carpark, where I always parked my car.

The musty smell of mould, rust and petroleum hit my nose as I headed further into the place. Pointlessly, I made a beeline around the various spots of black on the ground, detested by the fact that there was so much old bubble-gum plastered onto the ground.

I had gotten ambushed here much too many times by amorous strangers so naturally, I was always on guard in here. As always, there was a small gathering of homeless men in the centre of the decrepit car park, toasting their hands over a fire lit in a steel barrel. They shot me a wary glance as I passed them by. I returned their glares with a smirk, making eye contact with the nearest one. Startled, he turned away.

I had almost made it to my car when my phone's familiar ringtone came to my ears. I fished the phone out of my pocket, checking the caller ID with a painful grimace. It was 3, one of my least favourite of the trio for a number of reasons. Figuring that I should answer, I put on a fake, sickly sweet voice as I answered.

"Hello, cutie," I greeted with a voice as sickly sweet as honey. I then turned away from the phone, disgusted by the sound of my own voice. Holding back a gag, I decided to quickly drop the act. "Are you calling to issue another warning?" I questioned in my regular, stern voice.

He chuckled somewhat nervously before answering. "Not exactly," he mused. Curious, I leaned against my car, eagerly awaiting his words. Another chuckle crackled through the receiver, his voice jolting slightly. "We're close." My mouth dropped open as I scrambled words together; about to question him further when the phone delivered a succession of beeps, meaning that he had hung up on me.

I called out in frustration, tangling my hands in my hair as I rested my forehead on the cold metal of my red KIA. This was bad, very, very bad. Who knew such simple words could make me react in such a way? I knew all too well what they were here for – punishment.

They were most likely going to go after me, kill me or take away my sanity as payment for being so disobedient. But first, of course, they'll kill my father, then my mother, Oliver and finally, me. That's just how bad guys work; they kill off all the people close to you before finally coming to you and taking away your life in cold blood.

I couldn't let that happen. I didn't need many people in my life (people were too annoying) but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate their presence. Sure, I may lack empathy for them most of the time, but they were useful, valuable – something I needed to keep. I had surrounded myself by people who irritate me the least, namely Oliver. But, most of all, I valued my life too highly to risk myself getting killed.

I knew that if I just went and did my job as soon as possible, they would let me off with a final warning. I can't believe I've been stalling like this. I guess that's just what happens when you're as lazy and hot tempered as I am. I need to deal with Ben first, of course, which brings me back to the reason why I came down here in the first place, supplies.

I unlocked my car and thrust open the trunk, prying open the secret compartment. To my relief, it was chock full of everything I needed for the ritual. I began pulling things out as my thoughts wandered once more to my assailants.

I could handle them, if I tried hard enough, for sure. But if I dared to lay a hand on them, the Operator would most likely take it as treason and kill me for my insolence. And, like I said, I value my life. I gnashed my teeth as I slammed the trunk with a kick since my hands were full. I didn't offer the homeless men a glance as I briskly made my way back to the ground floor of the apartment.

I kept up that pace all the way back to my humble abode, trying my best to keep the thoughts of those three out of my head as I locked myself back inside my room. I relaxed somewhat at that point, pleased to be back in my own space. I took a deep breath, assuring myself that I would get things sorted after I finish dealing with Ben.

Much to my curiosity, I found that the generally warm, yellowish lights of my room had changed colour. Now, they were a sort of electric, lime green. I slowly placed down my supplies before the television, looking around to see if anything else was amiss. I soon found that apart from the lighting, my apartment was exactly as I had left it. I assumed it was just Ben messing around again, passing it off as usual as I began to set up for the ritual.

As I did so, I noticed that the Statue of Emptiness had appeared on top of my television, right beside the Majora's Mask cartridge. Its eyes, instead of being their normal blue, had been entirely blacked out, save for a red dot right in the centre of the abyss. I chuckled at its lame attempts to look 'frightening.' I have seen many a monster with those very same eyes; it appears to be a cliché of sorts.

I picked up both objects and placed them within the chalk circle I had drawn onto the wooden floorboards. Working off muscle memory, I made another ring around the chalk with rock salt before promptly setting five candles around the circles in the shape of a star. I sliced my finger with a kitchen knife, reluctantly making another ring around everything I had already set up. I rarely used my blood during rituals since there were many risks associated with doing so but, since Ben was a powerful ghost, I figured I'd need an extra layer of protection.

Using my blood as a barrier worked in such a way that I would be actually using my own strength to hold him back. I was very strong mentally but not so much physically therefore I would have to work very hard to pull him back into the inner circles but it should work – even if I have serious muscle cramps afterwards.

Sighing and clearing my mind of any residual doubts and annoyances, I opened my mouth and began to chant lowly. The words were an ancient spell or something (I couldn't remember) commonly used for exorcisms. It always works when I use it so I've never doubted the strength of it. The practiced words flowed easily off my tongue as the spell came into focus. A hazy electric green bubble formed over the circles. It always takes a darker shade than the lighting in the room so that didn't bother me.

I watched as the cartridge jolted forward in the circle, clearly being affected by the ritual. The statue beside it began to teeter ever so slightly. I smiled to myself, pleased that things were already going so well. I focused harder, increasing the volume of my chants. Moments later, both objects began to move about more violently in response. Soon enough, the statue crumbled completely, a shattering sound vibrating through the air as pieces of ceramic scattered everywhere.

Good, that meant that Ben's spirit was still attached to the cartridge. Due to how mobile that statue was, I had a theory that Ben may have gone and possessed it but I now know that was not true. One can never be too careful.

Therefore, I placed my entire focus on that game. Before long, I noticed the card begin to violently glitch, squares of green, blue and yellow blurring the object. Slowly, a green mist began to rise from the cartridge, meaning that I was finally separating the spirit from its object. I heard the sudden roar of the Shadows in the darker corners of the room, meaning that they were now more aware of Ben's presence. This was the point where I needed to concentrate the most, in order to keep the ghost within the circle whilst simultaneously banishing it to the other side.

Red orbs suddenly appeared in the center of the green mist, gazing at me intently. I ignored them, persisting with my task wholeheartedly. And it was a good thing I was so focused because the ghost began to fight. It struggled against the intangible bonds that wrapped around it, the green mist swaying back and forth violently. For a moment, pride surged through me at the thought that I had almost got it.

I then realized that it was holding back, that it had much more power than it was letting on.

As if it had guessed what I was thinking, the mist parted slightly, revealing a sharp, toothy smirk. The bastard knew exactly what he was doing here. I frowned, anger surging through me. I quickly tapped into that emotion, using it to further strengthen the circle. The mist's grin grew, its glowing red orbs increasing in size. Simultaneously I felt an immense tug of power from his side, one that sent a tremor of fatigue through my body as I tried desperately to maintain my control. He was indeed powerful, just as powerful as I had been expecting him to be.

He continued to struggle, my grip on him inevitably slipping. With little warning, the green bubble that hung over the circles glitched, as if it were a holographic projection. I heard something snap, followed by ebbs in my strength. I realized with a scowl that Ben had broken the chalk innermost ring. The shadows eagerly responded to this, taking this chance to move forward, making their way towards the circles slowly. This had happened to me before with other powerful ghosts so I didn't let it distract me for long. I pushed more power into the candle and blood barriers.

The green mist trapped within what was left of the circle began to grow, reaching out towards the candles. What a reckless ghost – obviously ignorant of the fact that it will get seriously burnt. Just as the mist brushed against the flickering flame of one of the candles, all five of them erupted in a great burst of inferno, engulfing the green mist entirely. Very few spirits have ever surpassed this barrier before and as such, I placed a lot of faith into it. I noticed that some of the Shadows were exorcised by this, their gaseous bodies quickly burning away.

The way I usually exorcised ghosts was through burning the corpse or bones of the associated being. But, since Ben drowned at the bottom of a lake, I decided to use different method since there was no way I was going swimming out there. Yuck.

Yet I didn't let my resolve fade; this barrier has failed twice in the past which meant it wasn't foolproof.

With an odd popping, fizzing sound, the fire all but disappeared. Now that the circles were clear, I noticed that the candles had been completely melted by the fire, wax oozing out all over my wooden floor. I'd have to scrape that off later, much to my annoyance. I momentarily felt my energy being sapped at again; alerting me to the fact that Ben had broken the candle barrier.

I had two main problems now; I couldn't see that green mist anymore and that I was going to start hurting now.

Pain tingled throughout my entire body but, since I had been expecting it, it failed to have much of an effect on me as I placed everything I had on that final barrier. The bubble covering the circles was wavering violently now, glitching up here and there. Smoke began to spew from the cartridge, along with small sparks of blue electricity. Yet that green haze did not appear again, indicating to me that Ben had somehow shielded himself from my vision.

The pain within me began to strengthen, quickly and steadily. I resisted the urge to double over as I kept muttering vehemently, kept focusing on getting rid of Ben. I soon discovered that I could still feel Ben's presence within the ring of blood; undeterred by my methods. At this point, I wasn't sure what else I could do except continue persisting with the ritual. He must be getting tired – even ghosts grow tired of exerting themselves overtime.

Oh, how wrong I was.

My veins suddenly felt like they were on fire, pain tearing and ripping its way through my thin frame. I felt a scream develop in my throat but I held it back, not wanting my neighbors to be alerted and rush in here without warning. The lights began to spark and flicker, the shadows moaning louder and louder as they tried to claw into the circle. Despite my best efforts, I could feel my control over the ritual begin to fade – something I hadn't experienced since my early days of exorcising. My eyes widened as the pain became unbearable, my entire body shaking violently as I slumped to the ground.

And thus, I lost all control over the Ben and I was way too tired and pained to do anything about it. I could taste iron at the back of my throat as liquid rose from my gut, forcing me to vomit up blood right in front of me. I almost vomited again at how gross that was when something else came to my attention.

Worry.

Where the hell was Ben's ghost? I had just broken it from its bonds to that cartridge which meant that it was temporarily free to do whatever the hell it liked without its powers being restricting by the bond. Ben wasn't lying when he had said he was powerful and, as much as I hated to admit it, he was probably the most powerful poltergeist I've encountered thus far.

Therefore, I needed to get up off my sorry ass and find him. My chest heaved painfully as I shakily pushed myself into a sitting position, ignoring the puddle of bloody vomit on the ground. My pounding head spun as I surveyed my surroundings.

The room was pitch-black now, since the lights had been destroyed with the power surges. I could hear the low, quiet moans from the various Shadows hidden in the darkness but their sounds were partially drowned out by the thudding in my head and heart. I could feel their bodies brush against mine as they moved, prompting me to shudder coldly. I needed to do something about these things at least before I attempted to find Ben. Grabbing some seals I had kept aside just in case of an emergency (which this was) and, with a lot of difficulty, got to my feet.

I wiped some bile and blood off my lips as I went about the walls of my apartment, sticking seals down here and there. I heard the hiss of the Shadows as they retreated for the time being. The seals would keep them at bay for now at least (I would have exorcised them if I had the energy). I felt my way through the dark until I had passed by the spot on the wall where I had begun.

Too weary to think of anything at all by that point, I pulled myself over to the couch, collapsing. I stared at the television as my eyes continued to adjust as best they could to the darkness, gathering what little specks of light there was. I recognised the television switch on, the dull, green light hitting my face, forcing me to squint.

Code began to glitch across the screen diagonally, a series of unreadable numbers and nonsensical garbage. I then noticed that it began to stream off the screen and into the actual environment around it, running straight into the wooden floor boards and into the roof. Slowly, ever so slowly, stray pieces of code and glitchy green squares began to form a figure standing before the television.

Gradually, the code began to take the form of a boy.

I studied his appearance, my eyebrows knitting together as I began to piece together what was going on. His eyes were first to form – red orbs surrounded by an abyss of darkness; empty eye sockets I presumed. The rest of his face soon began to form, just as a very soft tune began to play from the speakers – the Song of Healing backwards.

His features were chubby, childlike, but extraordinarily pale. His dirty blonde hair clung to his face, as if it had been dampened. His lips were twisted into a sharp-toothed smirk, his head tilting to the side as he studied me. His attire was quite similar to Link's from the very game he haunted though they were faded, as if they were very old. He was short of stature and his body hovered a good half a meter off the floor. His entire form was outlined with a hazy, diffuse green.

I didn't need to think at all to realize who was floating before me. It was Ben.

"You shouldn't have done that," he whispered as he continued to scrutinize me with his gaping eyes. His voice echoed throughout the room, sounding almost exactly like I had remembered it. It pitched up and down once again, glitching, just like his body. Yet it sounded like a child's – cheeky and naive.

"Ben," I chuckled heartlessly, unsure what to say or do to him in the current state I was in. "Finally, you showed up, you bastard."

He chuckled suddenly, prompting my heart to beat faster for a moment with recognition. That damn laugh, it was too familiar. There was no denying that this was the Ben from all those years ago; despite his warped appearance and personality.

"It's BEN, in all capitals to you, Vivi," he replied after his laughter died down. I smirked at the fact that he pointed that out. It doesn't make any difference in the pronunciation, just how it was written – what a meaningless fact to point out. He tilted his head to the other side, grinning at me. His orbs burnt with malice and excitement as he opened his mouth once more.

"Too tired to do anything about me? Or even think about me?" he mused. "Such a shame, I thought there was more fight in you." A lame pang of anger vibrated through me at his insults but I couldn't help but agree with him. That ritual had sapped away all my power, leaving me in the hands of that dick. Great, just fucking great. Well, I guess it's all up to what he decides to do with me now. I'll show him my side of the argument after I rest for a while (if he doesn't kill me first of course).

"There is," I answered. "And you're right; I am too tired to give a shit about you." He giggled and his body glitched up in response until he calmed down again.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I made myself at home?" he questioned rhetorically. What the hell did he mean by that? He better not go and possess something else. Then again, with this current form he's assumed, I'd doubt he'd feel the need to do so. After he's shown me all that power he has, I wondered why he even bothered hiding away in his game anyway.

"Nope," I sighed heavily. Just because he had overpowered me, doesn't mean I was going to let him do whatever he wanted without even voicing my disapproval. He smirked again, clearly not caring about my words. He glided towards me, my skin prickling at the cold air he was giving off. He didn't stop moving until he was only inches before me.

"You have a reservation tomorrow; sleep," he whispered again, his cold breath fanning my face. I grimaced as he swiped his hand over my eyes, pulling them closed. I heard him shush as I quickly felt the onset of unconsciousness. I tried desperately to fight away the urge to sleep but I quickly gave up, unable to fight any longer.

When I wake up, that damn ghost is going to get it. I had shit I needed to do which means I definitely didn't have time for his nonsense. An exorcism was definitely out of the equation now, which meant I would need to seek new ways of getting rid of him since; of course, I had never found a ghost who could bypass a ritual like that.

He really was going to be a handful.  
And so I fell asleep, giving BEN complete control without my permission.

I heard a faint voice before I fell asleep, something I had grown accustomed to lately. And now, I finally knew who was speaking.

 _"Let's play together tomorrow, just like old times."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: BEN**

I woke up pissed, to say the least. I jolted upright with a start, immediately recalling everything that had happened the previous night. Pain vibrated through my body but I didn't care in the slightest. I went against my body's meek complaints as I got to my feet, gazing around for any signs of BEN.

Warm sunlight filtered through the flimsy curtains, creating a pattern of dusty light on the floorboards and furniture. The plaster walls were haphazardly decorated with seals, some of them covered in bloody fingerprints. The air stunk of blood and vomit, prompting me to pinch my nose to stop myself from puking again. The television was still on, displaying a news channel, oddly enough.

I blocked out the voice of the news reporter as I slowly dragged my eyes down to the scene on the floor. I was presented with a mess of salt, hardened candle wax, charred wood and blood. I pressed my palm into my forehead at the mess, wishing that I didn't have to be the one to clean that up.

For now, I turned my back on the mess and headed towards the kitchen. I inspected things there and found nothing. The bathroom was also exactly how I left it. I set my jaw with a scowl, realising there was only one last place he could be. I just hoped that he had disappeared over the time I was sleeping and wasn't where I thought he was.  
Unfortunately, my wishes did not come to fruition.

There, sitting on my bed, was the familiar, small form of BEN. His hat trailed behind him, his back facing me as he shuffled through a photo album from God knows when. I leaned against the door frame, regarding him with a cold glare. How long had I been out for? I looked around the room, noticing that ever piece of memorabilia I had from my life had been scattered across every available surface except for the walls and ceiling. My entire life was laid bare for him to see and, despite my general stoniness:

I was damn embarrassed about it.

"So the first thing you did was go through all my belongings," I spoke up. BEN didn't seem surprised at all by my voice – he had most likely heard or sensed me coming. He tilted his head over backwards, staring at me with a grin.

"No, the first thing I did was fix the lights and television," he replied. I rolled my eyes. At least that explains why everything turned back on. I didn't bother asking BEN why he was going through all my shit – I already knew exactly why he was doing it. He was looking for a weakness he could exploit. I'd like to see him try, personally, it might give me a bit of a head rush or much needed excitement.

I stood there for a few moments, trying to think of something to say. Honestly, I found it a little difficult. Who wouldn't? How would you feel if your deceased best friend from your childhood came back as a ghost? Well, since I was generally apathetic, all I really felt was annoyance mixed in with a bit of nostalgia. I guess it was good to see him again? I don't know.

BEN, turned suddenly staring right at me with those socketless eyes of his, lips twisted into a malicious grin. He snapped his fingers together, prompting all my scattered items to return to their correct places, excepting a single object;  
My mother's journal.

He picked it up, leafing through it with an expression of mock interest on his face. I quickly got out of my chair, reaching over to snatch it out of his grip when he suddenly teleported, yes teleported, out of my room. I whipped around to the door, heading into the lounge room without hesitation. That journal, despite it not being my own, was still incredibly important to me – one of the very few things I earnestly cared for in fact.

Why? Well, it has very valuable information about the supernatural in there. I had learnt a significant portion of what I know now from that book. Occasionally, I still used it as a reference. That book could be exploited by my enemies in a number of ways. If that thing fell into the wrong hands, it would cause a lot of problems.

I stepped out into the living room to find BEN lying on my couch, focusing rather intensely on a specific page in the book.

"…Vivian screamed and cried," he began to read out loud dramatically, for my benefit. "She just wouldn't stop. She said that she had seen a ghost that day, belonging to her dead friend; Ben." I hesitated in my walking, surprised to hear such familiar, yet so ancient words being spoken out loud. BEN chuckled heartily before tossing the book aside like it was trash. I watched out of the corner of my eye as it slid and hit the wall with a thud.

I gave it a cautionary glance, hoping it was still intact. I strode over to him, folding my arms. He looked up at me, yawning loudly. I could see the armrest of the couch through the back of his throat since his body was still rather transparent.

"You missed me, didn't you?" he questioned rhetorically. "You shouldn't have done that."

It took me a few moments to find the right words. I was a child back then, less cynical and pessimistic of the world. I did miss him back then, immensely. He was my friend after all, a very close one at that. He didn't appear to like me nearly as much as I liked him but right now, our past interactions didn't really matter. Well, might as well tell him the truth.

"Of course I did, for a couple of months in fact," I replied coolly. "Your death not only saddened me but intrigued me. I knew you drowned but I had no idea why – you could swim."

"The answer's in the game. You'd most likely have figured it out by now if you had kept playing," he pointed out, followed by another glitchy chuckle.

He drifted a few centimeters off the couch, floating towards me. He stopped a couple inches before me, much too close for comfort, yet I didn't move. "So you did miss me, just like I thought," he mused. I don't know how but I caught a flicker of emotion in his eyes, of which emotion, however, I couldn't be sure of. "But, like I said, that's all pointless. I had never felt so happy in my life. I could do whatever the hell I wanted if I amassed enough power."

"So you attached yourself to Majora's Mask and gained power through scaring the shit out of people and sapping electricity from anything that conducts it, correct?" I supplied, filling in the gaps. His grin only grew as he chuckled. His red orbs never left me as he guffawed. He was full of laughs wasn't he? Just what the hell did he find so funny about all of this?

"What's with the attitude?" he purred. My nostrils flared as seething rage thudded through my veins, a rage that probably wasn't totally justified, in fact. This kid was really making me feel way too many emotions than I should be. I couldn't even explain how I felt – there were too many emotions in the fog of my mind to discern my true feelings.

"People change," I commented. "Clearly," I added in reference to his changes in personality. He seemed nothing but amused by my statement. His body teleported away from me, much to my relief. Getting so close to him, let alone a ghost, was enough to make anyone uncomfortable (even me). I watched as he floated through the bathroom door.

"Being drowned and trapped alone in a game for nine years will do that to you," he chided. His voice was clear and loud (apart from a hint of static) despite him being in another room. It was like his voice was in surround sound. I decided to see what the hell he was doing since I only cleaned my bathroom recently and I don't want more mess.

As I approached the room, I heard him speak again. "I think I'm going to make a new rule, Vivian." Puzzled and offended at his words, I slammed open the door to see him fiddling with the pipes under the bathroom sink. I frowned and leaned against the tiled wall, glaring intensely at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You just showed up yet you think you can start making rules?" I argued. He has no right to start making himself comfortable here or even be here for that matter. I didn't know how to get rid of him right now and I didn't have much of a clue of what he was planning to do with me other than 'play a game'. And on top of all that, I needed important answers from him. Therefore, I had to keep him here.

"I can do whatever the hell I like and I can make you do whatever I want," he objected. Silence passed between us, punctuated by the metallic clanging of the pipes. Okay, first call of order, his plans. I wasn't comfortable with him fiddling around with the pipes like that – he could flood the place. Maybe he was planning on killing me? No, he would have done that at the first chance he got.

"I doubt that," I remarked. He chuckled once more. I was already beginning to hate that damn laugh of his – the one I used to find so catching when I was a little girl.

"That's what they all say," he murmured as he backed away from the pipes, seeming satisfied with his work. I wondered for a fleeting moment what he had been doing throughout the time I was sleeping but I decided that I wouldn't ask. I had the feeling I would find out momentarily.

So I decided to ask him a different question. He teleported away again which gave me time to quickly check out what he had done to my sink before I pursued him. I tried the taps, finding that they were still in perfect working order. Confused, I tore myself away from my bathroom, quickly finding BEN in the kitchen.

He was currently shuffling through all the food I had stored up, a bored expression written on his pasty features. "You don't eat anything cool," he noted. What did that have to do with anything? Wasn't he here to make my life a living hell and not question me on my dietary habits? I decided to quickly ask him my question before he darted away again.

"How many people have you revealed yourself to like this?" I queried. He turned to me, abandoning whatever he was planning with my food. He drifted up close to me again, his nose brushing against mine. I shuddered at the freezing air that seemed to accompany him.

"One," he replied darkly. I smirked at his words, wondering just why I was so special all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because of our childhood? I doubted it, he must have other reasons. He was too twisted now to care for such sentimental values. "And I bet you can figure out why."

I took a shot in the dark. "You can't scare me yet you'd like nothing more than to make me jump out of my skin and crawl into a ball. You'd like nothing more than to see me whimper and cry for help – drive myself insane with all my paranoia," I theorized. It turns out it wasn't really such a long-shot, BEN seemed to agree entirely. He leaned back from me, folding his arms across his lean chest.

"Precisely," he admitted. He then floated straight through me, prompting painful chills to travel down my spine. My skin prickled with static electricity to which I quickly dispersed by touching the steel handles of the draws. A powerful electric current surged through my finger, burning it slightly.

I whipped around; watching as BEN slowly nestled into the couch again, rolling onto his back with a heavy, jolting sigh. Recalling his previous comment, I decided I'd make a comeback.

"Kinky," I snorted. "But what happens after I shit myself in fear?" He gazed at me with raised eyebrows, having not expected such vulgar words from me, I thought. "What's with the face?"

"I imagined little twelve year old Vivi using such nasty words," he sneered. I rolled my eyes and turned my back on him. An unwise thing to do but I wanted to show off my defiance. I wouldn't pressure him into answering my question; in fact, he probably wasn't going to answer. Right now, I needed to do one thing and that was finding where my victim was hiding out.

Reasoning with BEN was a stupid thing to do but it needed to be done. I'd have much, much longer to play this game with him if my life wasn't on the line. I realize now that I knew very little about the new BEN, of his true intentions, of anything really. I was confident in myself, sure, but this was a dangerous challenge and force to be reckoning with.

"If you've been watching me this past week, you must know about the calls, right?" BEN's face turned serious for the first time so far, his socketless eyes narrowing somewhat. He nodded slowly. "Then you must know how many days I have left."

"Six," he replied smoothly with suspicion coloring his voice. "They, whoever they are, are a separate issue. Like I've said before, I'm your first priority."

"Only I get to decide that," I snapped, turning back to him. I found that he was now sitting on top of my television, swinging his legs back and forth rhythmically. His head was tilted to the side as he stared at me, his lips twisted in a frown.

"Just who are they?" he asked as innocently as he could muster. My fists tightened at his question. I didn't want to answer him in the slightest. I was surprised he didn't know for a moment until I recalled that no one knows about my involvement with them except me, Oliver (partly) and them of course. Needless to say though, I had no obligation to tell him.

I smirked as I spoke, folding my arms. I tilted my head to the side so that I was now looking at him straight on. "If I told you, you'd become involved by default. Not even the undead are safe in the hands of the Operator."

Static danced across BEN's eye sockets and his red orbs disappeared for a few moments. I assumed that he had heard of him; who hasn't in this day and age? And, from what I've read, BEN apparently has control over a significant portion of the internet so he must have found some sort of information about the Operator.

"'They' is a plural. Who are they?" he pressed, his red orbs returning. They appeared to be flickering with rage, though I still wasn't sure how he was expressing such emotion through his lack of eyes. My smirk grew at the thought of the fate that could possibly befall him if I were to tell him everything I knew. The Operator had a knack for messing with electromagnetic fields. BEN, being an electronic ghost of sorts, could be exorcized by the Operator on a whim.

No Vivian, not yet. I still need him to answer my questions. Not only that but he was potentially useful; he is very powerful after all. I needed more time with him, more time to get to know him better. He better accept the deal I had in mind.

"You already know too much, as cliched as that sounds," I said. "Also, I only divulge my secrets to those I trust. And I know for a fact that I can't trust you since I know you have motives other than merely scaring me a little." BEN groaned at this, sliding off the television and slumping onto the floor. I bit back a bought of laughter at his childish actions.

"They're getting in the way, whoever they are," he said. His voice was muffled by the floor boards. I noticed that he was lying down right in the center of the mess I had made last night. Good, roll in it, asshole. "I've sent some Shadows out to investigate anyway so they shouldn't be an issue for much longer." Funny, he thinks he has everything under control when the creatures he is up against are much, much stronger than he knows.

"How about I strike you a deal," I began, seeing that it was a better time than any to propose what I had in mind. He moved into a sitting position, floating a couple inches off the ground. He regarded me with a curious yet suspicious expression, clearly untrusting of my plans. So he should be.

"What? I don't make deals; I'm the one in control here – you'll realize that soon," he reminded me somewhat lazily. I rolled my eyes. I've been playing around with ghosts since I was a little girl, controlling them was second nature to me.  
Sure, BEN was powerful but as far as I know, he wasn't powerful enough to make me conform to his every wanton whim.

"Find my father," I commanded. "In return, I'll give you a hint as to what really scares me." Intrigue flickered in BEN's orbs, yet he didn't seem all that impressed with my offer, much to my annoyance. He still had some of the traits of a child; impatient and never satisfied with what they have.

"I need more than just that, I have other things I want to do too," he claimed. I wasn't going to budge on my offer. I don't know why he wasn't agreeing to it since it sounded pretty reasonable to me. All he had to do was find someone which wouldn't be difficult with his powers. Sure, I could find him myself but it would take much more time for me to do it.

"If I don't know your motives then I can't make a deal that satisfies us both," I reasoned. "And neither of us plays fair in the first place." BEN suddenly appeared right before my face again, invading my personal space for the third or fourth time so far.

"No deals, Vivian," he snapped, narrowing his eyes. I was about to just drop the subject but I really needed him to temporarily get out of my way while I did my job. A hot flash of inspiration sparked through my mind as a plan began to form. I opened my mouth again, letting it out without evaluating it first.

"You are free to do whatever you wish to me if you locate my father. You can follow me around as I go about my missions and jobs, mess with me in any way, as long as you don't stop me from doing them altogether," I dared, keeping my expression nonchalant as I let the words loose.

It would be extremely annoying having him around and once I get moving, he will probably restrict my movements through his tampering and haunting. But right now, it was all I could think of at such short notice. I can't believe i didn't think of a plan earlier. I had gotten much to overconfident of my abilities therefore I didn't have the foresight to make a plan for what would happen if my ritual failed.

I focused my gaze on BEN's reaction to my offer. His face was lit up with child-like excitement, his sharp teeth clearly visible with that toothy grin of his. He darted a few inches away from me, letting loose a string of chuckles. His head glitched suddenly to the side, appeared to be separated from his neck for a few moments, before it returned to normal.

"You shouldn't have done that," he cautioned. I shrugged complacently – what's done is done. I just hoped he fully understood the longwinded agreement I made. I was about to ask if he was in agreeance with my plans when he interrupted me. "Fine, but only if you give me the rest of this day to do with you as I please. You will do whatever I want today without question. If you do as I tell you, I'll find you dad tomorrow."

I gritted my teeth, going against every fibre of my being as I nodded in compliance. It needed to be done. I had to admit though, for a child, he was very good at making deals. I then recalled that he was the same age as me and that his mind had probably aged, unlike his body. I groaned loudly, kicking over a nearby candle before I answered him. "Fine," I hissed. I knew I was giving into the rule he had mentioned earlier; completely twisting my own words on the subject.

He looked overjoyed, to say the least. "Now then, perhaps we should get on with the game," he stated in a sickly sweet tone. With a snap of his fingers, the walls of my apartment began to glitch violently as green code began to rapidly stream over their surfaces. The lights went off with a spark simultaneously, the only source of light now being BEN's body and the glitching walls. I looked about wildly, unsure what he was up to. I felt a tingling sensation through my boots, followed by a pressure on my legs. I looked down to see thick, black cords snaking around my legs, binding them in place.

Unlike most people would be, I wasn't scared in the slightest; I was pissed off and a little curious to see just what he had in store for me. Part of me already had some clue, telling the rest of me that it most likely had to do with Majora's Mask. But why was he tying me up with these cords and wires? It was much too kinky for my liking, if you ask me.

Well, there was nothing I could do but wait and see. I watched as he drifted to my side, wrapping a final cord around my throat. At this point, I was bounded to the sofa, cords wrapped around my entire body, except my arms and head. I would have moved my head around to see just how securely I was tied but since I could barely move my neck, I gave up.  
I stared straight ahead at the television, my eyes keeping close watch on the flickering patterns of green code streaming across the screen.

"You asked about my plans earlier," said BEN as he settled down on the couch beside me. "I'm a ghost, stupid. Ghosts generally stick around due to some kind of unfinished business or lingering revenge. How's about you try and figure out why exactly I'm here. Scaring you is one thing, I didn't lie about that. In fact, that's the thing I want to do first and foremost. But I have a few other things I want from you."

"And what would that be, Benny?" I asked in a mockingly polite tone, glaring at the electric ghost at my side.

"Well, you'll have to figure most of them out yourself," he said with a lazy wave of his hand. His glowing red orbs met my angry yellow eyes as he continued to speak. "But I will let you in on one of my other motives;"

"I want you to pay for your involvement with my death."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Lucid**

(A/N: There is a torture scene in the second part of this chapter (below the line). You can skip that particular section if you wish.)

 _The wooden framing of the old house rattled and groaned in the wind, rain battering it and seeping into the cracks in its exterior. Wind blew over the lake, creating large ripples and small waves that lapped against the stony shores. The sky above twisted and churned with ashen clouds, rippling with crackles of light here and there. With every flash of lightning, a loud clap of thunder followed. The forest of cedar and fir trees rustled as loudly as a rushing waterfall._

 _In a small room up a rickety flight of stairs sat two young children. Neither was bothered by the chaos outside; the television was turned all the way up, the storm being only background noise to them. A little girl sat cross legged beside a boy that was slightly older than her, her intense amber eyes gazing unwaveringly at the screen. The boy's fingers grasped the controller with practiced ease as he sped through the familiar areas of the game's world._

 _"Hurry, Ben, the moon's going to crash," urged the girl as panic began to rise within her._

 _"I've done this a thousand times, Vivi, I'll make it," he snapped, poking his tongue out in concentration. "In record time too."_

 _A deafening snap of thunder prompted the both of them to raise their hands to their ears in an attempt to block out the sound. The Nintendo 64 controller fell to the floorboards with a clatter, though they failed to hear it over the rumble of thunder. Vivian screamed loudly, prompting Ben to punch her in the arm to silence her cries. She scowled at him, rubbing her stinging arm._

 _Finally, the thunder subsided. The two sat in silence for a moment, merely listening to the howl of wind and the patter of rain against the roofing tiles. Just before Ben reached for the controller again, a loud bellow from downstairs drew him to a standstill._

 _"Where the hell is that brat?" spoke a loud, gruff voice. Vivian and Ben exchanged frightened glances as they heard a muffled, feminine voice reply to the shouting man's questions. Neither of them knew if she was supporting them or giving them away but at that moment, it didn't matter. Silently, Vivian ushered him into her closet, Ben complying with her actions without question. She closed the doors, locking them with a small, silver key she kept in her pocket._

 _It was a practiced routine, something that the two were much too used to._

 _Vivian hurriedly switched off the television and Nintendo 64 before flicking off the room light and crawling into bed. She pulled the covers up over her head as she began to hear footsteps thumping up the stairs. She whimpered softly, fear trembled through her veins as she anticipated his arrival._

 _"Where the hell are you Ben?" he shouted. Vivian wrapped her blankets closer to her tiny frame, sobbing silently, fearing for her friend's safety along with her own. She heard her door slam open, her heart rate increasing incrementally as the man stomped over to her bedside, throwing the blankets off of her._

 _"He's in that closest, isn't he?" he accused, pointing a finger at the closest. Vivian shook her head in vain, refusing to meet the bearded man's eyes. He smiled all of a sudden, his cracked lips stretching over his yellowed teeth. "Give me the key, Vivi."She would have said no, would have told him to leave him alone, yet her fear got the better of her. Shaking all over, she reached into her pocket and drew out the key, handing it over to him._

 _"Please don't hurt him," she pleaded softly, sobbing fully now. She grasped fistfuls of her pink bedsheets, her bottom lip quivering as she continued to beg for him to leave. Yet she didn't speak loud enough for him to hear her, just little whispers under her breath._

 _"Please don't touch him."_

" _Stop yelling, please, please."_

" _Leave him alone."_

" _Where are you going?"_

" _Stop, please, stop it."_

" _Don't go to the lake."_

Of course I remembered the final day I spent with Ben. How could I forget? I was so damn afraid of that man as a child that I couldn't do anything to stop him from dragging him away from my home that day. Honestly, I had no idea who he was. Ben simply told me he was a friend of his father's. He would often be brought over to that man's house to play with his son who was around his age and, oddly enough, had a lot in common with him.

He hated them. Or at least, he grew to hate them.

To hear BEN accuse me of not helping him avoid his death actually hurt – I was twelve for God's sake and I was much more innocent than other children my age (despite all that I'd seen). I was afraid and when people are afraid, they do desperate things. I now knew exactly why BEN wanted revenge on me.

I found that I was now floating in an abyss of blackness, nothing to support my thin frame as I drifted about aimlessly. I heard a voice echoing throughout my mind, permeating my thoughts, forcing me to hang onto every single word.

 _"There are things you don't know about me, things you can only dream of knowing."_

 _"What happened in the past, you barely remember. I, however, remember in crystal clear detail. I know what you did and I am fully aware of how you contributed to my death even though you may not be."_

 _"Want to find out what really happened?"_

 _"My game isn't the only evidence you should be looking at. There is more, so much more, and you know it. You think that I'm just a poltergeist hung up on the past, you're wrong. I want you to know what happened."_

 _"Once you understand me, I can begin to really get into your thoughts. Eventually, I will have control over everything you do in your life, believe it or-."_

"What the fuck are you up to?" I yelled as loud as I possibly could. "BEN, I don't give a shit about this whole controlling bullshit you're going on about. I want answers, cold, hard answers. Finding out how you died and who was involved is not my top priority right now. Sure, it might be interesting but it's not necessary to my survival."

"Why did you interrupt me?" whined a childish voice. A glitchy, green form appeared before me, jolting here and there for a few moments before forming into BEN. "I sounded so cool." I smacked my palm into my forehead, completely and utterly confused about what was going on.

"I was about to mention that website I had, ," he went on, glaring at me with mock anger. "I did tons of stuff on there and freaked people out, it was great. I think you'd like it, not that I care what you like." I snorted before breaking out into slightly hysterical laughter, prompting BEN to ask me what the hell was so funny. He must really love that phrase for some reason. Oh God, it was so clichéd. If I wasn't floating in space, I would be rolling on the floor right now.

"You have a website called ?" I guffawed. He growled lowly at me as I tried to catch my breath. "That's the best name you could come up with?" I soon calmed down, looking over at him to see him looking positively pissed with me. "Continue," I sighed. He gave me one last glare before doing something I wasn't expecting;

He wiggled back and forth with a sheepish smile, like he was thinking of something that made him incredibly giddy. "I mean, half of it is lies but that's the fun part," he giggled. "You get to decide what is right and wrong. It's not just my backstory I'm telling people about here. They are involved too."

Who the hell is 'they'? Was he blackmailing me for refusing to tell him what 'they' were in my life? Dammit.

"BEN, shut up," I snapped. I glared at him, setting my jaw firmly. I was getting really tired of his bullshit. Honestly, I want to find out everything I can about him but I'm not going to let on about that. I would find out in time, when I actually had space in my timetable to do so. "Right now, just let me play that silly little game of yours and add to the notes I have. I don't know why you have to make this big elaborate show just to tell me your backstory."

"It's really stupid."

Yeah, I give up. I'll play his game then maybe he'll leave me alone for two seconds so I can get some work done.  
He paused for a moment, quite literally; he wasn't moving at all. He actually seemed surprised by everything I had just said, wonder sparkling in those eerie red orbs of his. I actually saw a flicker of hurt in them for a moment, something that made my heart skip a beat in shock. I then snickered, prompting him to start moving again. I was surprised to find his hands suddenly wrapped around my throat.

His body glitched violently, with patches of green and red squares. His eyes widened much larger than what would be humanly possible as he glared at me.

"You have no idea what's going on do you?" he said, surprisingly calmly despite his angry appearance. Though I could hear rage in his quivering tone. His fingers tightened around my throat, prompting me to gasp for breath. I tried to pry his fingers off, but I quickly found that my hands went straight through him. My vision began to blur as I struggled against his grip.

"Sure, I'll let you go and hunt that victim of yours after I find him. But afterwards, I am going to show you things you wouldn't believe," he snarled, flashing his razor sharp teeth. "Why is my backstory so important? Use that brain of yours that you are so proud of and think."

He let go of my throat, letting me take in massive gulps of air. That was going to bruise, for sure. Part of me now wished that I had completed my whole mission thing earlier so I would actually be able to fully invest myself in this story that BEN was trying to tell me. I still don't understand what's going on so I'm definitely going to have to look into it in the near future.

BEN floated a couple feet away from me, regarding me warily. "So will you stop arguing and just play already? Everything will eventually make sense." He seemed more withdrawn now, weary even. I was beginning to get the feeling that I had just involved myself in a much greater mess than I had previously assumed.

Suddenly, I found myself sitting back on the sofa again in my apartment, staring at the television screen I was so used to. A controller appeared in the space before me, floating. I grabbed it, shooting BEN a wary look before I turned my gaze to the screen. Things were set up just like they were when I first entered the cartridge. I assumed BEN wanted me to start over, utilizing all the new information I had obtained.

And so, I began to play, ceaselessly. I complained numerous times that I was tired and wanted to rest but BEN wouldn't let me. The only times he gave me any sort of break was if I needed to relieve myself or get a drink of water and a snack. I almost dozed off at one point, my eyes sliding closed. He caught me, however, and he did something that prevented me from closing me eyes again. I don't know what he did but he just made me unable to close my eyes.

I continued to analyse everything the game was showing me, pissed off that BEN was making me read into it so much. I liked to read into things anyway but this was bordering on obsession. As far as I could see, BEN was involved with a number of people who clearly didn't like him very much or wanted to use him for some kind of purpose. Oliver and I had originally related the characters in the game to people we knew in our childhood but I was beginning to think that we had been wrong.

I addressed BEN on this issue and he told me that I wasn't entirely wrong before; some of the people involved we did know as children. He said something about them being different now, simply different - that they were tied into other things now. Always so cryptic, that idiot was.

Finally, I reached the end of his game. I didn't even know the thing had an end so that was surprising. BEN asked me what I thought of it as he flicked his wrist, switching off the television without so much as touching or looking at it. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I thought of things any longer – I was more tired than I had ever been before. In fact, I couldn't think of a single thing to say to him. I just stared into those red orbs of his and shrugged.

"I'm tired," I answered evasively. BEN clearly wasn't pleased by my answer, scowling at me.

"Didn't you pick up any of that? The stuff about the Father, drowning, Moon Children; any of that? Were you even watching?" he fired. I nodded slowly, yawning widely in the process.

"Yeah, of course, but since you wouldn't let me sleep, I don't know what to think about all of it," I replied honestly. BEN, who had been resting on the couch and watching me play, floated up off the sofa, wandering back to my bedroom.

I groaned and made an effort to get up and follow him. A wave of dizziness, hunger and thirst hit me like a wall, prompting me to take a detour into the kitchen. I fetched myself a few glasses of water and two sandwiches, hastily devouring them and downing all the water. He only let me get up a grand total of three times since I wouldn't shut up about being hungry and so on.

"Vivian, come here," I heard BEN call out as I finished off my final glass of water. I dragged myself into my bedroom, shooting the small ghost a glare as I crawled into my bed. I kept my eyes on him as he spun around in my desk chair a few times before turning to me.

"You must have something, you kept taking notes," he urged. I rolled away from him, yawning loudly. Yes, I did have notes but in my tired state I can barely recall what I wrote. And anything I did remember made me inexplicably uncomfortable. I now knew for sure there was something sinister behind BEN's seemingly innocent (in my eyes anyway) game. The Moon Children, for example. Their appearance in the game was in the moon, of course, but I just got this feeling that they were meant to represent something important.

Forgetting all of my notes from past nights, I decided that whatever I had written down was the closest to the truth I was going to get without BEN telling me everything in detail. Despite my tiredness, I knew I had made no mistake in my information gathering.

"Find my father tomorrow, as per our agreement," I murmured as I dared to let my consciousness wane under his gaze. I felt his red orbs burn into my back as a smirk slowly stretched across my lips. He's going to have to do as I say, otherwise I wasn't going to tell him anything and he knew it.

"You can't tell me what to do," he sneered as I felt a tug at the back of my mind, followed by my body going limp. I eagerly accepted the grasp of slumber, having not wanted its touch like this for a long, long time.

I had an interesting dream last night; one I'm sure BEN had used his powers to give me.

I was floating around in that black abyss again, the Statue of Emptiness standing before me. As usual, its eyes were directly on me, mouth held in a permanent grin. It teleported away from me in a whirl of green pixels, reappearing a few meters away from me. It occurred to me to follow it.

It led me through the abyss and onto an island of lush, green grass. Within the center of this sprawling field, grew a massive tree. Beneath said tree, huddled a number of children wearing dirty, ragged clothes. Each of them wore a tribal mask, concealing their faces entirely from me. I recognized them immediately as the Moon Children. I glanced beside me, noticing that the Statue of Emptiness had disappeared, leaving me alone with the children.

I stood there for a few moments, gauging the lucidity of the dream. I took a deep breath, sucking sweet oxygen into my lungs. A light breeze tugged at my hair, making it trail behind me like ribbons. I could hear the rustling of the leaves, along with the mumbles of the Moon Children. I noted how real this dream felt; honestly, if I didn't know better, I would have mistaken it for reality.

Slowly, I approached the children, assuring that my guard was raised. It wasn't long before I was standing directly before them, the small people crowding around me. They stared at me for a time, though I had no clue what they were thinking of feeling due to the masks covering their faces. I didn't feel intimidated by them in the slightest. Whether that was due to my fearlessness or their lack of malicious intent, I didn't know.

That all changed as soon as they decided to lift up their masks.

Their faces were horrifically disfigured, to the point where it took me some time to realize that it was human faces I was staring at. Maggots crawled from their eyes, ears, mouth and nose, falling onto the grass at their feet. They lacked eyeballs, much like BEN. Their lips were twisted into sharp-toothed, yellow grins that grew larger as they stepped closer and closer to me.

"Please play with us," they giggled innocently. I snorted in hysterical laughter. Such a cliche scene I've stumbled upon here. I wondered if it was going to get more cliched or actually diverge from things I've already seen.

"Honey, I've seen enough bullshit to know where this is going," I rebutted. The children halted for a moment, pausing just to stare at me with those smiles of theirs. I didn't move, in fact, I folded my arms and stubbornly planted my feet on the soil beneath me. This is a dream and, despite it being a lucid one, nothing that happens here would affect me in real life.  
Needless to say, what followed did deeply disgust me.

Simultaneously, the four children tackled me, my skin crawling in opposition to the sudden contact. They pinned me to the grassy ground with an iron grip, their clammy hands getting a firm hold on my body. I noticed the Happy Mask Salesman approach them from behind, chuckling darkly as always. He grinned sickeningly and rubbed his hands together.

"Try on this mask for me, will you?" he purred. He held out his hands, pixels gathering about them. Once they dispersed, he held a mask crafted from a face I recognized vaguely. I didn't have much time to provoke my memory before he handed the mask to the children. They giggled gleefully as they shoved the mask onto my face. I could see them jump up and down excitedly like they were high on sugar as they began to sew the mask onto my flesh. Unsurprisingly, it hurt enough for me to cry out in pain.

I saw the Happy Mask Salesman through the eyeholes of the mask, watching him dart about sporadically. He glared at me with those calculating eyes of his, judging my every movement throughout the procedure. I could feel hot blood run down the sides of my face now, goose bumps rising on my skin at the sensation.

Tears, a fault of the pain, scrolled down my cheeks as I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming. I drew blood, having bitten down hard enough to bury my teeth at least a centimeter into my lower lip. Finally, the children's' work was done. I attempted to waken myself from this nightmare but I quickly found my actions were futile.

Now, they began sewing together my limbs. I didn't have any idea why they would need to do that but right now, that didn't matter in the slightest. What did matter, was trying to control myself in the face of such immense pain. I reminded myself that I've been through physically painful things before, that this was just another challenge that would soon be over.

The mask, now that it was fused to my face, was so tight that I couldn't even emit a whimper or scream. I realized that it had no mouth for whatever reason. I clung to the notion that this was all a dream, that my body was indeed fine and that soon I would wake up in my bed, facing off against BEN once more.

What? I wanted to escape being tortured – it was painful and disgusting. I wasn't scared, merely uncomfortable in the worst of ways. Well, maybe it was mildly frightening in the very least of senses. I assured myself that, as usual, there was no need to be scared at all. I calmed down enough to halt the dread running through the back of my mind.

Once the Moon Children ceased in their sewing, they stepped away from me, staring down at me with their beady red eyes. The Happy Mask Salesman slowly bent down, staring at me just like the children. He leaned in until he was inches from my face. He grinned cheerfully, like this was all an amazing, wonderful experience for everyone involved.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" he chuckled. "My daughter."

The Moon Children howled with hysterical laughter, cackling and cackling without any signs of stopping. Daughter? Just who the hell was this Happy Mask Salesman represent? Well, that was a rhetorical question, I already had someone in mind – it was obvious, in fact. Everything was beginning to make sense now, become painfully clear to me.

Fucking hell.

The figures surrounding me began to fade, along with the grassy fields and the towering tree. Soon, I was alone again, drifting through the dark abyss. The pain had disappeared, but the stitches remained in place. Reluctantly, I closed my eyes, trying to transgress into a peaceful state of mind to spend the rest of the night in.

I failed, therefore having to spend the rest of my naptime drifting through impermeable darkness.


	10. Chapter 9 point 5

**Chapter 9.5: Old Photo**

BEN sat on Vivian's belly, glaring at her intensely. He leaned on his fist, watching her eyelids flicker from the movement of her eyeballs beneath them. Her skin glowed with a faint green, a side effect of the ghost using his powers on her. Vivian was a stubborn girl but she had always been a sucker for lucid dreams. It wasn't BEN's ideal way of getting her to realize what was at play here but it was necessary.

His lip pulled upwards in a smirk as he poked her shallow cheeks with a pixelated finger. He whispered to her softly, despite knowing she won't wake even if he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Stupid girl, lying to me. I know how you truly feel about all this – you have a soft spot for me, remember?"

He got off her, rolling onto the bed beside her. "The thing about childhood memories is that the emotions you felt at the time will never change, what's done is done. All that changes is how you deal with the memory."

"You'll help me, no matter what bull you go on about."

He sighed heavily, chuckling grimly to himself. He began to hum the reversed Song of Healing, a song he would never be able to get out of his head. He'd spent nine years listening to it after all. He stared about the room, taking in the sights. The place really did scream 'Vivian' to him. He couldn't quite pinpoint how, it just did.

He stared at the posters on the opposite side of the room, a Nirvana one, if he recalled correctly. Beside it, was a web of various newspaper clippings, notes and the like, all joined to one another through red string. Someone's planning something, he noted with a sneer.

He turned his gaze back to the sleeping woman, noticing that her skin had now broken out into a cold sweat. Her breathing had intensified, her face screwed up in a grimace. She looked scared even (though it wasn't enough for him). He felt proud of his handiwork as she rolled over suddenly, her back now facing him.

He gazed at her back for a time, his brow furrowing at the sight of a tiny scar at the base of her neck.

It was a circle, with a cross struck through it. He recognized that symbol anywhere, scrunching up his nose at the thought of the things associated with it. He chose to push away those thoughts for the time being. She clearly wasn't mindless like the others, still very much herself.

He glanced down the rest of her body, noticing the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from the back pocket of her jeans. Gingerly, he reached over and yanked the paper from her pocket, floating into a sitting position so he could get a better look at it. The room was dark but since he was always glowing, he was able to see.

It was a photograph of him, Vivian and Oliver when they were children. He faintly recalled the day that picture was taken; when his mother opted to take them all out to the zoo for a day. He then remembered that Vivian's mother had been completely against her leaving the house and was constantly called her throughout the day to ask if she was still alive.

Good times. He got slightly nostalgic from the memory, smiling a little too honestly. Regaining his control over himself, he slipped the photo back into Vivian's pocket, choosing to forget about its existence.

But he was having greater times now – he was having much more fun now than he ever had when he was alive. He sighed and floated out of the room, leaving Vivian alone to her nightmares. He thought for a while for what to do, deciding to mess around with her video games until he believed she had dreamed long enough.

Maybe she still has Ocarina of Time? Yes, that would be a much needed respite from Majora.

(A/N: I decided to just make a little filler chapter that takes place while Vivian is dreaming. It has very little to do with the storyline but I liked it so here it is.)


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Find Him**

I woke up around midday the next day. As soon as my eyes snapped open and I realized I was lying in my bed, I breathed a massive sigh of relief. I flexed my muscles as I shakily pushed myself into a sitting position. Cold sweat clung to my pale skin, making me screw up my face in disgust. I needed a shower. My stomach gurgled suddenly, alerting me to the fact that I was hungry too, despite seeing all that gore.

I sat for a few moments, reflecting over everything I had seen that night, remembering in painful detail. I had been scared by what I had seen; an emotion that was so foreign to me that I barely noticed its presence at first. I hadn't been scared beyond my wits, but I was scared enough to recognize it.

I knew for sure now that I wasn't as fearless I had thought. I told myself to simply forget the emotion behind that dream, just to focus on what happened and not how it felt. Knowing that I had felt even that small amount of fear was enough to deeply anger me, all that rage being aimed at myself. I thought I had become strong, strong enough to not fear anything. Guess I was going to need to toughen myself up; otherwise BEN might actually achieve his dream of scaring the shit out of me.

I slowly pulled myself out of bed, finding that I had very little energy pumping through my veins. I wasn't surprised – being tortured will do that to you. I began to pad towards the kitchen, thinking of preparing myself a hearty breakfast. I cleared my mind as I did so, barely aware of BEN's activities in the lounge room.

I understand what he was trying to tell me through that dream, in correlation with the Moon Children and the Happy Mask's Salesman. I had a feeling that his position in the game seemed awfully familiar from a character from my past which, through that dream, was revealed to be my father. It was shocking but not entirely unexpected.

I sighed a shuddering breath as I began to fry the sausages I found in the fridge. No need to make such a big deal about fear, Vivian, you weren't that scared. It was just a bad dream and there is no way that anyone human would be able to stay composed during torture, even one such as myself.

We have bigger things to worry about than the emergence of fear.

My thoughts calmed me down enough to temporarily sweep my emotions towards that dream under the rug. By the time I had finished breakfast and greedily gobbled it all up, I was back to thinking mostly normally (for the time being). It was a good thing I was good at compartmentalizing. I reviewed all of the aspects of the game BEN had showed me yesterday (checked the time, it was midday the day after yesterday), before I wandered out into the lounge room to confront the ghost on the matter. Then, I would force him into finding my father – he has a lot to explain.

I slumped down on the couch right beside him, though he barely paid any mind to me. I turned my attention to the television screen, a smirk tugging the corner of my lips once I noticed he was playing Ocarina of Time. If memory serves me right, we had never played through this one together like we had with Majora's Mask. We had both played it on our own accords on a single cartridge – the very one he was playing now.

"Time?" I asked him. He had stuck out his tongue, his fingers moving at an inhuman speed over the controller. He could just finish the game from the inside but apparently, BEN wanted to play it fair for once. He was one strange kid. Then again, look who's talking.

"Two and a half hours," he replied in a monotone. "I'm trying to gather everything and do everything in the game in record time." I chuckled at his attitude for a few moments before I strode over and crouched down in front of the television set, my finger hovering over the 'off' button on the Nintendo 64.

BEN noticed my intent immediately, throwing the controller at my head. I tumbled out of the way as he positioned himself between me and the television. He frowned, glowering intensely. I could see through his transparent body that he had paused the game somehow, most likely using his gifts. "Alright, I know what you want and you know what I want," he began, getting straight to the point like I had wanted. I straightened my back, folding my arms over my chest.

"Find my father and I'll tell you everything I've figured out so far," I arranged. "Since this deal is important to my survival, I'll uphold it without complaint, deal?" Rage flickered in BEN's orbs for reasons I could only attribute to my poor choice of words. I could easily tell he wasn't going to take me up on that offer which meant I would have to divulge my findings to him first. Realistically, there shouldn't be any real harm in doing so. The only risk I ran with that was getting tired of explaining and of BEN betraying me once I was done.

"Fine, how about I make things easier by grabbing my notebook so you can read what I've written," I quipped. BEN shook his head, prompting it to pixilate and temporarily disappear for a moment.

"I can't read your writing, it's too curly," he whined, stating it like it was the most obvious reason. I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to strangle the ghost into oblivion (I wouldn't have been able to but the thought of doing so made me happy). I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, annoyance pounding through my veins. I took a deep breath.

"Then you better listen to what I have to say because I'm not repeating anything," I sighed. I can't believe I was being so cooperative right now, especially towards BEN of all things. I was desperate, I guess. I needed BEN's help to save my skin since my father was very well hidden and there were probably very few traces if any of him on the internet and I don't know anyone who still keeps in contact with him.

BEN sent a wistful glance towards the television before turning back to me with a bored expression. "Then you better make your explanation entertaining. If I don't understand or find your information valid, I'll refuse to find your dad." Since when was that part of the deal? Damn poltergeists, constantly messing around. I knew my information was good but that didn't mean BEN would like it; children were like that. Despite his age, he still acted like a child so I had a feeling that even if I told him the truth of what I had gathered, he still wouldn't be fine with all of it.

But what choice do I have?

I strode back into my room, fetched my notebook, and walked back out again. I had filled nearly the entire book with notes yesterday so I was definitely not keen on reciting them. I cleared my throat, flicking open to the first page and began to read. BEN hovered in front of me, crossing his legs like a pretzel as he listened to me intently. Well, at least he was making an effort to listen for now.

I referred to each save file as a 'segment', to start off with. I told him that I didn't assume the information held in the files were all in chronological order, just the names. BEN seemed surprised for a moment but nodded in agreement nonetheless. I then went on to compare the characters in game to various individuals in real life. Those that I didn't have a real person to represent; I simply stated the role I believed they shared.

I then began to explain each save file, going into detail about the scenes that were being depicted in each one. BEN, much to my surprise, remained attentive throughout my entire explanation. In conclusion, I tied all of my findings into the most cohesive story I could come up with. That was the most risky part, since I wasn't still entirely sure on what truly happened. Maybe if BEN wasn't so cryptic, I would be able to see things clearer.

Then, a thought came to mind.

Just why is BEN so cryptic?

Anyways, in summary, I had uncovered the works of some sort of organisation BEN knew of along with the details of his drowning. The two concepts were weakly linked but the cohesion was still there. I tracked back through my own memories, telling BEN what I could remember (not much). I wasn't involved very much with Ben's personal life, or with his 'friends' he would spend time with when we weren't together. I knew very little about his familial situation; he would change the subject whenever I used to ask. Ben was an enigma to me and, frankly;

I love a good mystery so I never grew bored of him.

I guess the same could be said of him today – he's still just as entertaining as he was back then. I flashed an earnest smile at that thought before reaffirming myself. I sighed in relief once I had finished talking, resting my head against the back of the sofa. I wondered if that was all to BEN's liking. I hoped it was since I really can't be bothered dealing with the consequences.

The ghost, oddly enough, seemed melancholic. He adverted his gaze from me, his eye sockets drooping slightly. His lips were twisted into a thoughtful frown. He seemed to sense me staring at him which made him look up at me, losing the sad face. He smirked, chuckling slyly. I was mildly surprised at how quickly he could change his demeanor. I eagerly awaited his answer, knowing full well that he at least had something to say.

He threw his hands up in defeat as he answered. "You're the first to fully debunk my game, Vivi, you should be proud of yourself," he congratulated. I noticed that there was a trace of resignation in his tone, which made me think that he was more disappointed that I had figured everything out. I sneered and puffed my chest out in mock pride. It wasn't too hard, to be honest, just surprising.

Everything BEN was going on about before, of how 'I knew nothing', I understood why he got so worked up about it now. What happened to him was definitely out of the ordinary like nothing I had expected. As far as I knew before all this, Ben's death was an accident, something that happened whilst he was out on a fishing trip with his father.

That was all a lie, I now realized.

Honestly, I felt fulfilled, knowing all these things now, finding the answers to something that had been so mysterious to me for so long. But, apart from that general sense of wellbeing, I felt little of anything else. In fact, I found that there were still a number of things that were unanswered.

Who the hell are the Moon Children? What does BEN really want from me? And, along that same train of thought, why does BEN want me to know about all this? He told me to use my head and believe me, I've tried, but I still can't think of anything in accordance to BEN's strange behavior. The Moon Children, on the other hand, I could just research when I got the time.

I learnt about what BEN meant about 'my involvement' with his death. I should have felt guilty, upset, and apologetic once I realized but, being the person I was, I felt merely contented with knowing what I had done. It was just another sin to add to my steadily growing list. Frankly, I did feel all those soft emotions in the months after his death but, being the naive little girl I was, I stubbornly told myself I had no part in it.

What I did was ignore Ben's plight. I ignored the troubles in his family since I eventually gave up on asking him about them. I handed over the key to the wardrobe that day, resulting in BEN getting dragged out of my room kicking and screaming. All I did was curl up in the corner of my bed, crying and almost pissing myself in fear. I didn't see BEN for a week afterwards.

The next time I heard about him was on a news report, saying that he had drowned.

There were other times I ignored him too. For example, all those times when those big bullies would saunter over to us and name-call, take our lunch money, beat him up, etcetera. I would run away and hide before I could get too involved, leaving Ben to fend for himself. They weren't normal bullies though, there was always something odd about them. I now knew what that was and how much that one little fact explained.

"BEN," I said, the boy's head turning around 360 degrees before his gaze finally settled on me. "What did you expect me to do? I was a little girl, a naïve, frightened one at that. You want revenge on me for that?"

BEN chuckled darkly. "You could have done something. Your mother was a kind woman. If you had told her, she would have made some phone calls, called the police or child services or something. But no, you kept it all to yourself."

"You could have called for help too," I snarled. How dare he pin the blame for his death on me? It's not my fault he drowned – I wasn't even there when it happened. It was his own sorry life that lead to his untimely death. He seemed hurt by this, his body pixilating violently for a few moments as rage twisted his expression.

"I couldn't. They had me wrapped around their fat fingers," he snarled. "Constantly stalking me, never leaving me alone for a moment. I couldn't even take a shit in peace. Not to mention that your father was involved too, helping those bastards out," he spat vehemently. I had discovered that the Happy Masks Salesman was meant to represent my father by now, a fact that never failed to both confuse and irritate me at the same time. An idea came to mind, one that made perfect sense once I thought about it for a moment.

"You want to help me find my father so you can have revenge upon him, right?" I asked him in a monotone. "I'm surprised you haven't done so already." He smirked, though the anger in his expression didn't falter in the slightest.

"The Moon Children won't let me," he muttered, like the words could summon them if they were spoken too loudly. "But you, you have nothing to do with them. I figured that if you stalked him down, I may get a chance to get my hands on him. Not kill him, of course, just show him a glimpse of true hell." His final statement confused me. Why not kill him? I just found out that he hated him with a passion so why would he spare his life like that? BEN caught my apprehension.

"If I killed him, it'll draw out the others," he said quickly, glancing at the door for a few moments after he spoke. He flashed his signature smirk before turning back to me.

"If you drew them out, you could kill them all, or use the Shadows you have under your control to possess them, make an army or something," I suggested halfheartedly. It was obvious, something any normal ghost with that much power would do. Hell, I would do it. Having an army to command at my every whim would definitely improve my life.

There was a moment of silence. BEN tilted his head, staring at me in disgust. "You really don't know anything, do you? You know the story but you don't know the story. You don't realize what is still in effect today, how impactful the Moon Children really are," he quipped, scrutinizing me with those blazing red orbs of his.

"Earlier you mentioned that you are still involved with them somehow, through that website of yours," I pointed out stubbornly.

"A ruse," he said simply, shrugging. "I needed them to think I'm still working for them. Maybe if you actually looked into it…?" He waved his hands suggestively.

Now I was getting pissed off again. It's like I'm constantly angry nowadays.

"Look, BEN, I'll research it when I have the time. For now, find my father so I can…," I trailed off, remembering that BEN didn't actually know I what I was planning to do with my father. If I told him, there would be serious issues. It's a good thing I'm decent at lying. "…ask him about the locations of my victim." The poltergeist's eyebrows rose for a moment in surprise before he grinned smugly at me.

"I know your plan's Vivian, there's no point in trying to lie," he purred. "I've been watching you very carefully ever since my cartridge arrived in this city which was a good month ago. I know about your relationship with the Operator and his proxies. I know all too well who you're planning on killing."

With a flick of his wrist, the television instantaneously switched on. An image of my disheveled father appeared on the screen. His slanted, black eyes glared at me studiously, his gaze partially obscured by his greasy, black locks. He was smiling, sweetly, despite his appearance. He looked older than I remembered which made me assume this was a fairly recent photo.

"I can't let you kill the Father," he stated. "Sure, I may not be on the best terms with the Moon Children. But that doesn't mean I want to piss them off just yet." From the way he was speaking, I got the feeling that he was afraid of them for some reason. BEN was pretty ruthless so to see him passing off opportunities to kill someone who he clearly wanted revenge on mystified me.

"Too bad," I said, hopping to my feet. It was kill or be killed right now – if I didn't kill my father, everyone else I knew, including myself, would most likely succumb to a draw out, painful death. "If I don't put an end to him, I'll die, or worse." BEN rolled his orbs, sighing heavily.

"You don't have a choice. I won't let you kill him and that is final," snapped BEN. The two of us glared at one another dead in the eyes, the tension between us feeling tangible. Neither of us was willing to budge on our decision, being the stubborn people we were. Slowly, BEN's red orbs faded out, forcing me to stare into his blank eye sockets. He grinned all the while, licking his lips slowly.

"Let's just burn that bridge when we come to it, huh?" he suggested after a while. "We'll have a show down of sorts; see who comes out on top. I know I'll be the victor though so I doubt you'll even have a-," I cut him off with a huff.

"Deal," I snorted, holding out my hand for him to shake. He glanced at my hand, then back at my eyes suspiciously. He then spat into the palm of his hand and grasped onto mine before I could recoil. I grimaced as he shook my hand violently, beaming all the while. His hand was extremely cold but was more corporeal than I was expecting it to be.

"I'll be on your laptop. Don't talk to me until I call you," he chuckled. With that, he vanished in a spark of pixels, presumably teleporting into my bedroom. I hastily wiped my hand on my jeans, shuddering at the grossness of that handshake. I stood there for a few moments, thinking of something to do. I didn't trust BEN, obviously, so keeping an eye on him would be beneficial but…

I directed my gaze to the mess that was still on the floor, taking a deep breath and finding that the air still smelt rancid. I groaned, figuring I may as well clean this shit up while I wait for him to find my father. I was just about to get to work when I heard a sudden knock at the door, a desperate one. I tensed up, knowing that there were only four people that could potentially visit me at this time and three of them probably have the intention of killing me.

I waited to see if the knocking stopped, which it didn't. Reluctantly I plodded to the door, opening cautiously just in case someone was waiting to shoot me or swing a knife across my face (both of them have occurred at least once in the past). To my relief, it was just Oliver.

He looked up at me, locking gazes. His face was twisted with a panicked, desperate fear, his eyes glimmering with apprehension. I raised an eyebrow at him for a moment until I remembered his situation; his mother's hand was mangled recently, his father was out of town and he had been having nightmares lately. The problems just keep coming, don't they?

"Nightmares? That charm should have protected you," I addressed. Oliver looked down at his feet as he spoke, tugging at his white and green striped sweater nervously.

"It burnt up," he muttered plainly. That's not a good thing, clearly. Paper charms tend to burn if their power has been succeeded by a powerful being. My charms were fairly strong since I've had years of practice making them so to hear about one catching of fire was enough to make me uneasy. I leaned on the doorframe, not quite sure what to do with him. I had BEN here with me now and I doubt Oliver will take to him very kindly. I'll just have to deal with him here.

"Describe the nightmares you're having," I commanded. With a large degree of effort, I could probably make a better charm for him, depending on what was haunting him now. Since BEN was now right where he wanted to be, I doubt he'd feel the need to torment Oliver any longer which meant something else was now onto Oliver's tail. "I'm pretty busy so they better not be normal stress related dreams," I added as an afterthought.

"Please, let me in," he murmured. "I have other things I need to talk to you about."

"You don't want to go in there," I said as nonchalantly as possible. "It's a sty. Just tell me here, whisper or something." He was already quiet so I'd have to listen as closely as humanly possible if he were to whisper to me. He gave me a suspicious look but didn't question me. This is why Oliver is my friend – he rarely questions my actions. He shuffled a little closer to me and I leaned down to him slightly as he began to speak again.

"There is a tall…faceless man w-wearing a suit," he stuttered. I knew immediately what he meant. I could feel my eyes widen as panic wracked through my body for a moment. It soon subsided after I told myself that I needed to stay focused, rational and under control. "I see him everywhere in my dreams, everywhere. And lately, I think the paranoia's been getting to me since-."

"You see him in real life too?" I sighed, like the words would bring the end of the world. He shook his head, no, much to my relief.

"I see three men," he went on, lowering the volume of his voice even further. "In real life, I mean. They move away as soon as I lay eyes on them so I never get a chance to study them properly. But I think they wear hoodies." He drew his eyes away from mine as soon as he saw rage flicker within them. I have five days left for God's sake! Who the hell do they think they are? Coming after Oliver before my deadline is even reached. Of all the impudent, stuck up bastards! Now I have to take care of Oliver to assure that he doesn't get killed while I still have a chance to save him.

I literally yanked Oliver inside, instructing him to sit down on the couch. He hesitated for a moment, staring at the mess, before his expression went to its usual blankness. He looked much better like that, when his emotion wasn't showing through that cute little face of his. He sat quietly on the sofa, staring at me with vague confusion in his eyes.

"What else did you need to talk to me about?" I asked him as I sat down beside him. He was hesitant in speaking again.

"You called me a couple days ago. I didn't pick up because I was…," he trailed off. He reaffirmed himself and began speaking again almost immediately. "But I've been worried about you, I haven't heard from you recently." I can see why he was worried – Oliver and I usually contacted each other at least once a day. I had good reasons but, again, Oliver wouldn't take well to finding out about BEN. He did warn me after all.

What I did wonder was why he was opposed to him. Maybe it was because Ben bullied him often when we were younger? Perhaps. Oliver was my friend, not Ben's so he was often the subject of Ben's insults and teasing. Why? Oliver was a wimpy kid – easy picking for the bullies. I tried to Ben most times but Oliver told me that he was fine with the insults, as long as I promised not to say terrible things to him.

"I'm fine, Olli," I replied nonchalantly. "Anyway, I can't let you out of my sight so you're going to have to come with me while I do a few things." That also meant I would have to 'introduce' him to BEN, much to my displeasure. Oliver wrapped his arms around his chest, nodding slowly. I didn't want to drag him into this but in the end; I guess he could stay in the car while I kill off my dad. It wasn't because he'd get in the way; it's just because he's too damn innocent and pure to have to deal with my bullshit.

Luckily, BEN was still searching for my father which gives me a bit of time to call up some 'friends' of mine and express my distaste at their hasty actions.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Preparations**

I decided to call 1, since I got along with him better than the other two. As calmly as possible, I clicked on his number in contacts, taking a deep breath as I pressed the phone to my ear. I listened to the familiar beeping as it connected, staring around at my surroundings as I did so.

There was a little balcony that hung off the end of each hall of my apartment. So far, over my stay here, I've never seen anyone hanging out there on my particular floor. This was good since hopefully, no one significant will be eavesdropping on my conversation. I stared over the balcony, clutching at the railing with a bony hand.

Snow had fallen apparently. Not much, but enough to dust the tops of the tall trees that grew in the gardens surrounding the apartment block. Small patches of snow could be seen elsewhere, though it was clear most of it had been melted by the late spring sun. Cold pricked at my skin, but I ignored it since I'm sure I'd head up during this conversation.

Finally, he picked up the damn phone.

"Masky, what the fuck are you thinking?" I snarled, venting the rage I had pent up over the past, well, ages I guess. I heard a low chuckle from the other end of the line.

"The Operator grew tired of waiting," he answered simply. That doesn't surprise me. I'm actually astonished he managed to be so patient this whole time. Perhaps it was because I was pretty good on my deadline the last time? Well, I had to get everything done in a week so that probably explained my motivation. Whatever, that's not what's important right now.

"I have a damn poltergeist to deal with!" I said in my own defence. "He has his own plans for my victim and, considering his strength, if he felt like it, he could cause a shit ton of trouble." I waited impatiently for Masky's answer, tapping my foot on the concrete floor rapidly.

"Well you better hurry, before we get you," he chuckled. "I know where you live; by the way, I'm standing on the other side of the street from the main entrance of your apartment." It was right at that moment that I wanted to slice open that man's throat and tear the rest of his head from his neck with my bare hands. "I saw that little brunette run walk inside earlier. He's done for if you don't do something right now."

"I've located my father, I was planning on heading out tonight to wherever he is," I hissed through my teeth. I chewed on my lip as I began to pace back and forth along the balcony. I wasn't sure what to do at this point. My mind went straight to thoughts of killing the bastards as soon as they entered my line of sight but I knew that in the end, the Operator would just take care of me himself.

"Then you better hurry. Hoody and Toby aren't as patient as I am when it comes to slaughter," he ended as he disconnected the line. I held my phone over my head, completely ready to throw it at a nearby tree when I remembered that I really didn't have the time or money for a new phone. I shoved the thing into my pockets as I let loose a low, almost animalistic growl.

Turning on my heels, I decided I'd only be wasting time on dwelling on that issue right now – or dwelling on any issue right now for that matter. I needed to get away from this place, needed to get to my victim and kill him so I can continue clinging onto this stupid life of mine, so Oliver doesn't succumb to the darkness and death he's tried so hard to avoid.

I stomped back down to my apartment, to which I had left the door open. Oliver was still sitting on the couch, though he position had changed greatly. He was huddled into the corner of the couch, his mouth open and a look of dumbfounded shock written across his features. I almost laughed at his ridiculous expression. It would have been years ago that I saw that look.

BEN had hovered down the hall, regarding Oliver with a broad, gleeful grin. They had never been fond of one another so to see them facing off like this was enough to make me chuckle lightly as I stepped between the two. I could feel Oliver staring straight past me and at BEN, unable to take his eyes off him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Ollie," purred BEN, chuckling at his own pun. I rolled my eyes and turned to Oliver, figuring I may as well explain what was happening. He needed to accompany us during the trip anyway.

"BEN, Oliver," I said lazily, "Oliver, BEN. You're smart, Ollie, I'm sure you can figure out what's going on here." He glared mildly at me before closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead with a trembling hand. He already knew, I assumed, he was just having trouble believing that BEN was actually here right now, after having drowned all those years ago. I stood there for a few moments, wondering if either of them was going to say or do anything. I could feel the tension beginning to rise, along with a tinge of murder on the air coming from BEN's direction.

"Play nice, we need to do this as a team," I said, my words dripping with sarcasm as I spoke them.

"I've always wanted to punch him until blood ran from his nose," muttered Oliver so sternly that I actually raised an eyebrow in surprise. I thought he was fine with the insults? Okay, I guess no one is, even little innocent Ollie. BEN scoffed at his claims.

"I have the kind of effect on people. You know, I should have killed you off back then, I'm sure you're still just as annoying today as you were before. I bet the world's better without you," bullied BEN, using similar intonation and phrasing to the ones he used to speak to Oliver when he was alive.

I was not in the mood for sorting out social issues but, unfortunately, the only one I could easily control here was Oliver. I decided to let them sort things out amongst themselves while I made preparations; I was on a severe time limit here. I shrugged expansively and headed into my room, glancing at the computer monitor as I entered. BEN had put a wallpaper of the statue of elegy again (a more contorted one than the last) which made me roll my eyes.

I kicked open the trunk at the bottom of my bed, rummaging through various licenced weaponry I kept there until I came across the ones I found were best suited to the situation; my trusty shotgun, two hand pistols and a hunting knife, along with plenty of ammo. I have collected weapons in this trunk over the last couple years, having finally gotten myself a license so my stuff wasn't confiscated every time I was caught by the cops (rarely but still).

I stuffed these weapons into a duffle bag along with some exorcising equipment. Hefting the thing into the kitchen, I grabbed some energy bars, trail mix and bottles of water. I could feel BEN staring daggers into my back but I made an effort to ignore him as I busied myself. As I was about to retrieve the ever so trivial Majora's Mask cartridge, a hand grasped around my wrist. I looked up to find Oliver suddenly staring beside me, staring at me gravely.

"On second thought, I can handle myself," he said with a hint of resolution in his voice. Funny, he was so scared merely a few moments ago. I gave him a look like he was insane before shaking off his grip. BEN was floating nearby, poking his tongue out at Oliver condescendingly.

"He's in the way," BEN pointed out. I shoved the cartridge in my pocket before addressing him. "I could kill him now and he wouldn't be a bother later. Or, we could both kill him." He chuckled suggestively as a cold shudder ran down my spine. The thought of having to kill anyone at all right now was enough to make my blood boil in anticipation. Not now, Vivian, wait a little longer.

"Ollie's the only friend I have," I refuted sternly, giving no room for argument. "He's important which means when it comes down to it, I need to protect him." BEN floated right in front of me, blocking me for a few moments. I rolled my eyes and moved around him as I ran through a checklist in my mind of anything else I needed. Gloves, I need gloves – wouldn't want to leave any fingerprints behind. Also my hoodie, while I'm here; can't be a Proxy without a hoodie. I chuckled at my in-joke.

"I have dealt with things like this before, I can handle it," argued Oliver again, this time a little louder. I was in my bedroom again, gathering up the clothing I needed and pulling it on with practiced ease.

"The last time we teamed up you almost got yourself killed. Turns out those shaky hands of yours aren't very good with knives," I called as I stepped back out into the lounge room, patting some dust off my black, and woolen hoodie. BEN was clearly growing bored of the conversation now, hovering about in circles and frowning in my direction.

"I'm surprised you haven't tried anything yet, BEN," I noted. "This is you we're talking about here."

He grinned though I could tell the question surprised him. "Do you want me to? Don't we have a little mission to attend to? Killing Oliver would take time since you'd have to remove his body to avoid suspicion. I can always kill him while we're on our road trip. And," he looked away from me for a moment, "I'm not really motivated to kill him apart from to get back at you." I snorted in amusement, wondering why he was acting so out of character before I turned to Oliver.

"You've never dealt with the Proxies before, Oliver. They're not your regular killers. And you're not all that strong in the first place. Just tag along, I'll make sure BEN doesn't kill you. Hey, you could even sort out your differences while we're at it. As soon as my mission is complete, you're free to leave my sight since you'd be practically safe."

Oliver had a moment of reluctance. I knew that he would probably feel like the odd one out in this situation; a useless pawn thrown into the mix with little purpose. Both BEN and I talked about him like that and, from what I've learnt, normal people don't take kindly to that. For a moment I tried to think of something to tell him that would make him feel better about all this but I quickly gave up; not having the time or level of empathy to do so.

BEN seemed to catch the look in my eye since he answered for me. He groaned loudly, hanging upside down in the air beside me. "Look, Crybaby, do you want to live?" Oliver gazed at him warily but nodded slowly anyway, if not a little reluctantly. "Then do what she says. I hate this as much as you do but I have to look after my own ass here." Oliver said nothing, his face returned to its normal bleakness as he pushed past me on his way to the door.

"Shotgun," he muttered as he left the apartment. I heard BEN huff in dissatisfaction since he undoubtedly would have enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat.

This was going to be interesting, very, very, interesting. Rubbing my hands together excitedly, I fell in step behind the brunette.

BEN was nowhere to be seen as I buckled myself into the driver's seat, casting a reassuring glance towards my duffle bag in the backseat. Sucking in a deep breath, I kicked the vehicle into ignition, gearing up and getting ready to go. The one thing I was missing right now was information on where my father was.

"BEN, get your sorry ass out here and tell me where my dad is," I hissed. I heard a low chuckle emit from the phone in my pocket, prompting me dig around and pick it up. The screen flickered violently with static for a few moments before Google maps popped up, telling me that my father was currently residing in Montreal, Quebec. Good, not too far away then. I slipped the phone back into my pocket.

I was about to drive off when I heard Oliver mutter something.

"He won't…do those… _things_ again right?" My grip on the clutch slipped a little as I sighed heavily, directing my gaze to him. He had pulled his knees up to his chest again, glaring at me blankly as he waited for an answer.

"Put your seat belt on, you know better than that," I said, avoiding his query. He dropped the conversation as he buckled himself in. "Once we get there, you'll stay in the car. Scream loudly if you're in trouble." I knew all too well what Oliver was talking about and frankly, one of the more minor reasons I needed to see my father was to get those very things done to me. It was painful and annoying but in times like these, I needed that kind of procedure. I ignored a cold chill running down my spine as I finally set the car into motion.

I focused my attention on the window, eyes trained on the asphalt road stretching out before me. The world around me whizzed past as I took deep, steady breaths. As long as BEN doesn't feel the need to be an asshole during this trip, things should go nice and easy. I know the way like the back of my hand and the scenery isn't bad. With any luck, there won't be any traffic. Oliver would be quiet, I'd turn on some nice techno music, and it'd be great.

Oh who the hell am I kidding? 


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Empty Roads**

The orange glow of the sun could still be seen over the peak of the looming, snow frosted mountains on the horizon. Pine trees grew in thick clumps on the sides of the road, towering high overhead. Other cars and trucks whizzed by once in a while, their headlights almost blinding in the dusk. Brown, clumpy snow was built up between the lanes due to the steadily falling snow from above. Technological beats came from the speakers of my car, the volume turned fairly low as to keep distraction at a minimal.

Oliver had fallen asleep which didn't surprise me since he had been wracked with nightmares lately. Knowing him, he probably felt comfortable enough in my 'protective' presence that he managed to bring his guard down.

BEN had unfortunately showed up again. He was currently sitting in the backseat paying Candy Crush on my phone. I don't know why he even bothered with pretending to act so human. But he was distracted for the time being which was good. Every once in a while, I contemplated asking him about the Moon Children out of curiosity but since he was likely to not tell me anything, I decided to stay silent.

"He used to watch you sleep, you know," I heard him speak up suddenly. We had been driving in silence for a good hour and a half so the sound of his voice prompted me to snap my head warily to the back seat. He grinned slyly as usual. Amusement coloured his tone. "I couldn't sleep when he was around. Always watching you so hungrily. Did he ever touch you?"

I tightened my hands on the steering wheel, turning my gaze back to the road.

"Why did you kill that old man?" I brought up all of a sudden. I watched him pull a confused face in the rear view mirror.

"I was talking about you here. Why does that matter anyway?" He questioned. I waited patiently for his answer. I didn't like talking about my father on a general basis so there was no way I was just going to go into depth about him with BEN of all people. "Cause I wanted to, duh," he answered after a few moments. "I enjoy killing people."

"Doesn't everyone?" I sighed. His eye lights gained a kind of expression that told me he was pleased I was able to relate to him in that way. That look quickly faded though as I continued to speak. "But it's better to kill someone you hold a grudge against, isn't it?"

"Sure is," he replied dryly. "Unlike you, I had even worse relations with my family, as you know. The bastard ran away, I let him, just so he could live out his lonely pathetic life. Then, since I had the opportunity to after you picked me up, I decided it would be a good time to end his life. You should have seen his face when he saw me…"

"What is it with killers and murdering their families?" I brought up. He said nothing in response for a good couple minutes.

"Bad upbringing, as always, you know the drill," he snorted. The conversation then died down as he returned to my phone. Since he probably would have finished Candy Crush by now (getting record-breaking high scores) he opened Tetris instead. It was a good twenty minutes later before he spoke again.

"You said you'd give me a hint as to what scares you if I found your father," he said.

"That was one of the many deals you didn't accept, I think," I replied wryly. "I can barely remember all that dialogue and nonsense anyway. And I think you already know anyway." He broke out into rolls of laughter as he slowly did a backflip.

"Are you serious? That's the stupidest fear ever," he ridiculed. "Come on, he wasn't that scary."

"You were crying like a baby," I rebutted, holding back a smirk. Yes, he was that scary. It isn't every day that a psychotic clown murders half the children in the audience. It was my mother who pulled us out of that mess. As you can imagine, I wasn't allowed to leave the house for a good year afterwards.

"So were you," he mocked. "Ah! Ben, save me!" he continued in a high pitched voice, clearly trying to imitate me. "You wouldn't stop screaming. I mean sure, seeing people getting murdered like that isn't all that fun but for you, someone who could see Shadows since you were a baby?"

"Shut up," I said, unable to hold back the grin now. Why the hell was I grinning? We were talking about a traumatic experience here. I wiped the smile from my lips as quickly as I could but I could tell that he saw it. Victory flickered in his orbs as he folded his arms.

"Any other questions while we're here?" he asked. "Nothing about the Moon Children though, that's for you to figure out." I wracked my brains for a short while, trying to find any discrepancies in all the things he had said since we met. Embarrassingly, I only found my own errors and contradictions in the things I had said.

I came up with a few, kind of stupid, things.

"Did you really hate Oliver?" I asked, casting a glance at the sleeping brunette beside me. I felt like I already knew the answer but some more clarity would be nice, just for future reference. He answered right away.

"Yes. He was annoying as hell I don't know why you never noticed that. He was so clingy, always following us around like a lost sheep. He never answered when you spoke to him and started crying at the drop of a hat," he replied lazily. Just as I had thought, why did I even feel the need to ask him? I quickly moved onto the next question I had.

"I can't help but notice from the way you were forcing me to play your game, arguing with me and giving me that dream but…," I trailed off a little as I merged lanes. "It looks like you want me to help you. Now why would I do that? You're dead and I'm over you so I don't feel inclined to do so." This struck him off guard. He did that odd, pausing thing that he does when he's surprised before shrugging expansively.

"You were the best bet I had. And I wouldn't really call it 'help', since I'm forcing you into it," he explained. "You'll find that it's in your best interest to do as I say when it comes to the Moon Children." Since when…? Oh, fuck it; I'm already deep in this so there's no real point of fighting against it now. I assume that BEN will get off my ass after I finish 'helping' him so that would be good. I would be able to return to life as 'normal' then.

As much as I told myself all of that, part of me didn't really want BEN to leave. I was quick to push away that side of myself, huffing a breath of annoyance as I did so.

"If I help you, you'll leave me alone, right?" I asked for confirmation.

"Maybe. I haven't had my revenge on you yet," he noted. He sat back down again, crossing his legs. "I kind of feel like haunting you until you become a quivering mess of paranoia. That will take a long, long time and a lot of effort so…" he trailed of suggestively.

"Then what do I get out of helping you?" I snapped. I wasn't going to do something for nothing in return. Call it selfish but that's just the kind of person I was.

"Noth-," he began, but quickly shut up, his eye sockets widening all of a sudden. His form glitched to and fro as his red orbs darted all around. Confusion struck me as he pixilated through the back of the car, leaving my sight. I mouthed a few choice words in confusion.

There were a few moments of silence, silence that made me realise that the radio had turned off. My heart fell into my gut as static began to crackle through the speakers.

Focusing back on the road, I noticed that Shadows were beginning to peel themselves up off the asphalt. Eerily, there were no other cars around, only mine. Funny, since there were at least three others in the lanes five minutes ago. Taking a deep breath to steady the oncoming panic, I shook Oliver awake. His green eyes flickered open sleepily as he stared out of the window, unable to the see the Shadows, of course.

"Oliver, I need you to take the wheel," I said sternly. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes with one hand as he reached over to grab the wheel with the other. He nodded slowly before we began to awkwardly switch seats. I told him that whatever happens, he is to keep the car on course. He stared at me with worry for a few moments before steadying his eyes on the road.

I clambered into the backseat, barely noticing BEN faze back through the car.

"We got company," he noted with a cheerful expression, pure delight in his tone. I zipped open the duffle bag, grabbing my trusty shotgun and hastily loading it with a couple rounds. "Some weird grey thing is out on the road." He sounded much too happy about this.

I glanced out the window, glaring cautiously at my surroundings. More and more Shadows were emerging, indicating to me the power of the creature that was approaching. Luckily, form BEN's description, I easily guessed who it was. Static began to crackle louder through the speakers.

"From the way you're acting, I'm guessing it's a problem," he said with false mock in his tone.

"From the way you're acting, I'd guess that you know all too well what this thing is. You look a little scared, BEN," I noted wryly.

"I was surprised," he was quick to argue. "It's not like he could hurt me anyway. In fact, I'm just going to sit right here and watch as you deal with it." True to his words, he slumped back into the seat, glaring at me expectantly.

I muttered a grunt of approval as I thrust the car door open, propping it open with my foot. I gazed around, trying my best to locate the thing BEN was describing. My heart was pounding quicker and quicker in my chest, supplying me with the adrenalin I was going to need. I had never fought this thing before and frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it.

I guess The Operator really was pissed off – he was even sending the Rake after me.

I knew it was a warning and not a death sentence but that didn't make me feel any more reassured.

The air was silent, too silent. Even the moans of the Shadows had been hushed. I craned my neck towards the back of the car, searching for the familiar figure of the Rake. I knew the thing was a silent attacker so I would definitely be able to see it before I hear it.

"You're looking in the wrong place," mused BEN. I turned to him and noticed that he was pointing a finger up at the roof. I could have sworn my heart fell right into my boots once I realised what he meant. I was about to slam the car door shut and tell Oliver to speed up but unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough.

I felt a sharp pain thrill through my shoulder as I was tossed carelessly out of the moving vehicle, my body colliding with a thunk to the road. Due to the momentum, I rolled a good number of times, scrapping my body on the harsh surface below. I cried out in pain as I finally came to a stop, tasting blood at the back of my throat. I would have laid down right there to wait for the pain to subside a little, but I knew I'd be dead if I did that.

I pushed myself to my feet, clutching at my profusely bleeding shoulder. I noticed the car up ahead skid to a halt, prompting me to sigh heavily at Oliver's disobedience. He better stay in that car. I brought him with me to protect him not to put him in further danger.

But that wasn't what was important right now.

Crouching some distance away from me was the familiar visage of the Rake.

His head was cocked at an unnatural angle, like his neck at been snapped. His skin was pulled so tautly over his malnourished frame that his bones looked like they were about to burst through the flesh. His entire body was crooked, some of the bones looking like they were broken. His jaws were hanging open, his long, black tongue lolling out of his head. His socket-less eyes glared right at me, leaking a few thin trails of dark goop. His hands ended in long claws inked in both fresh and dry blood, some of which I knew to be mine.

He recognized me, I could tell.

With a snuff, and a low garble of words I could barely understand, he took a few silent steps forward.

 _"Stupid girl. You know better than to mess with the words of the Operator. This is a mere warning but of course, I will delight in letting you know how displeased he is with your disobedience."_

Many think that the Rake cannot speak, that he isn't all that intelligent. I will tell you now that he is the very opposite of that. There have been many accounts of people hearing the Rake speak to them right before he kills them, most of which I know to be true.

His relationship with the Operator? Let's just say they go way back.

With a scramble of boots against asphalt, I sprinted towards my shotgun which had fallen out of my hand once I fell from the vehicle. The Rake predicted my movements, jumping in front of me and slashing a hand out at me. I narrowly dodged it as I continued to head towards the gun.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I notice the car door open, Oliver poking his head outside. I vehemently muttered curse words under my breath as I snatched my shotgun up off the ground. I screamed at Oliver to keep out of this as I whipped back around to face the monster.

It was already right onto me, using both his hands to slash repeatedly at me. I jumped back clumsily, getting nicked here and there by his filthy claws. He was giving me no room to attack. Knowing him, he was probably going to just 'accidentally' kill me here since that was just how he rolled.

Not today.

Well, I told myself that but deep down, my common sense was mockingly reminding me that I needed to exercise more.

Finally, I saw an opening, cocking my shotgun and firing as quickly as I could. The shot hit his left shoulder, a spray of black blood erupting from the wound, flecking my skin and clothes. He stumbled backwards with a grunt of anger before lurching forward again.

I barreled out of the way just in time to avoid getting my arm sliced right off. His claws still cut deep though, deep enough that I'd need to stitch myself up later. He gave me no time to gain ground as I fired the shotgun right as he was about to pounce onto me. This time, it hit him square between the eyes, spraying more blood my way.

He squealed like a pig and recoiled away from me, clawing at his own face. He hissed and growled lowly as he grew angrier. He lunged forwards faster than I had been expecting, managing to rip his claws into my gut before I could safely clear them. Luckily I had moved far enough back that the wounds were not too serious.

Yet I still screamed from the pain and doubled over, barely able to keep myself upright. I fought against my body as I fired another two shots, the former of them missing the creature entirely. The second sailed into the left side of his chest. This time, he didn't show any signs of being in pain as he swung his claws towards my head.

Since my wounds rendered me unable to move as much, I threw up an arm to block his attack, wincing as his claws sunk into my other arm. Since I needed to reach for ammo in my pocket in order to fire another round, I ducked down while he was tried to dislodge his claws from my arm, crawling away from him.

He whipped around and scrambled towards me, claws clacking against asphalt. I loaded the shotgun and fired another two shots, both of which missed. I fumbled for another as he stabbed his claws right through my leg, pinning me down. I steadied the barrel against his forehead right as he was about to swing at me again.

I fired. The impact at such a close range was enough to split his head open, black brains spooling from his skull as he backed away, hissing and spitting like a savage feline. He emitted a hollow, sharp scream as he scuttled away from me.

 _"Until next time, human."_

With that, he leaped into the nearby pine trees, disappearing from my sight. I spat out some blood from my mouth as I grinned victoriously in his wake. I felt my vision blur as I tried to push myself into a better standing position. If I didn't get medical attention now, I was going to die. Luckily, Oliver was studying to be a surgeon.

See BEN, he is useful.

I lay on my back, trying to steady my heart so that I hopefully wouldn't bleed out as quickly. Pain thrummed throughout me continuously, showing no sign of ceasing. I chuckled darkly to myself as I heard footsteps tapping towards me from a distance. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that I was out of danger for now at least.

Wow, Vivian, you need to start training more. And yes, I do occasionally receive some training from an impatient Masky during our rare collaborative missions.

I soon felt cold, clammy hands press against my skin, followed by the intense sting of cotton balls laced with hydrogen peroxide. I winced as that stinging pain spread, those hands cleaning the rest of my wounds. He lifted up my shirt gingerly, as if some kind of horrible thing would happen to him if he were to see my stomach.

"I know. I could have died," I said before Oliver could. He said nothing as he began to shakily stitch the wounds on my shoulders closed. With his help, I moved into a sitting position so he could gain better access. I pulled open one of my eyes to scrutinize his expression.

"Vivian, I don't know what I'm doing," he muttered. His voice was filled with tension, as if he were about to break into tears. "You need to go to the hospital." His eyes glittered with a faint sheen of desperation and fear as he tried his best to fix me up.

"Later," I brushed off. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" He gave me a wide-eyed blank look that gave me the impression of annoyance. You begin to be able to read into Oliver's bleakness after a while. I huffed and looked away, staring into the darkness of the horizon. "Believe in yourself, you're studying to be a surgeon right? Do your job."

He fell silent after my words; either moved or just couldn't be bothered speaking any longer. He did his work quickly, knowing that I had some place to be. His silence was refreshing as always. I stared up at the stars above, letting loose a sigh. Their lights sparkled so magnificently out here, free from the neon glow of the city lights. For a few moments, as Oliver was bandaging me up, I forgot my troubles as I watched the stars blink in and out.


End file.
